Bravery is not your trait
by evelitan
Summary: Lena and Kara have been together for seven months, things have been perfect, but nobody knows about them and the moment for them to find out has come. Maybe. Perhaps, not yet. However, there are still many problems ahead of them and not all are for Supergirl to solve.
1. Chapter 1

**Bravery is not your trait**

 **Summary:**

Lena and Kara have been together for seven months, things have been perfect, but nobody knows about them and the moment for them to find out has come. Maybe. Perhaps, not yet. However, there are still many problems ahead of them and not all are for Supergirl to solve.

 **Notes:**

Hello guys! So… I've decided to write this fic because lately I'm not very happy with Kara's character. I used to love supecorp, but I'm very confused now and what better way to express my confusion than to write it? I am not sure how this story will end, I don't know how many chapters I'll post (I don't think it would be too long), but I've also had this in my mind for a while so, I think it's time to just see where it goes. I hope you like it, but if you don't I hope you won't be offended by the pairings and the characters, that's just a fic and nothing more. As always, I don't own any of these characters and I appreciate every comment and every kudos you guys leave. Stay tuned for more chapters!

 _Chapter I_

It was already 4 am and she finally fumbled with the satin sheets of her bed. She was spent; her bones even ached and her muscles were strained, every inch of her body felt heavier than a family of elephants and her eyes closed in a sleepless haze as soon as her head hit the pillow. Today was the most tiring day of her life and yes, she did just finish a partnership agreement with an important Japanese company, but Lena Luthor wasn't a stranger to hard work and this was actually the easiest part of the whole day. What weighted heavily on her was the pretending, it even made her stomach physically hurt.

Tonight, Lena Luthor laid in her bed listening to the rain drops splashing angrily against the tall windows of her bedroom and just as she was about to let sleep finally claim her consciousness a strong arm encircled her waist and pulled her closer to the body behind her. A strong scent of apples, honey and a hint of vanilla enveloped her; Lena smiled and let herself be tugged closer to the source of that magnificent smell. Even though she smiled, her heart felt heavy, remembering what happened earlier in the day and she let out a long shaky breath before clearing her mind again.

**earlier in the day** It was barely 30 min after the weekly briefing with all the departments in Catco (a new routine they had fallen into ever since Lena bought the company) when Kara's phone vibrated with a message from her boss.

"Hey, what kind of wine do you prefer?" - A message appeared and Kara hurried to type back a reply. "Last time I picked our wine we ended up eating chocolate cake with red wine. So you have carte blanche on this one." – She typed back with a smiley face. Kara was never one to understand the immense world of wine or Earth's alcohol in general, being unable to get even a bit tipsy from it, she didn't get the point in drinking it too often. The younger Danvers though, was very fond of the taste of whisky and red wine, she enjoyed the pleasant tickling sensation in the back of her throat when she drank the former and the grape and fruity tastes of the letter. But, apart from knowing the basic distinctions between the wines Kara never bothered learning more about it, it's not like she could permit herself to spend 1000$ for a bottle of wine. It was in this exact instant that a thought came flying to her and quickly typed a text back to Lena.

"And not anything above 50$ max!" - That's better she thought, she could still taste the earthy, sweet, medium - dry champagne Lena had surprised her with for their six month anniversary. And she also remembers the chills that ran over her when she checked the receipt she had found fallen by the trash can in the CEO's kitchen. Dating Lena has been every bit of the adventure she could have imagined it would be. They still kept their relationship a secret, but today Lena's heart was threatening to jump out of her chest when Kara asked her to accompany her to the family thanksgiving dinner, perhaps tonight was the night. Perhaps tonight was the night everyone would find out about them and Lena will finally be able to hold Kara's hand in public, it's been fun to keep each other for themselves for a while, but lately James was getting too close to Lena and with Monel's return… Alex and the rest of Kara's friends had been trying to set her up on a few occasions already.

After finishing typing her sentence, Kara put the final point in her report in an exaggerating manner and made her way to her boss' office. "Miss Luthor, do you have a minute?" - The blonde asked the moment she lowered her hand from the knock on the door. "Of course, Miss Danvers come in... and close the door behind you please." - The brunette smirked. Lena was dressed in what could only be described as the most alluring business suit Kara had ever seen. Grey pants that came a bit loose from the knees down, emerald blouse that made her eyes look like real life gemstones and a grey vest. A vest! Who even wore that anymore? Apparently, the most brilliant CEO in the country and most probably in the entire world and the thoughts that wondered Kara's mind were not at all PG13. "Kara, have you finished with your transcript of the interview with Superman?" - Lena asked as if the blonde had interviewed John from the coffee shop nearby. "Almost. 20 min tops and you can even check it for spelling errors if you want." - Kara added playfully, she knew well enough how meticulous Lena was when they talked about grammar and sentence structures. Trying to get her to understand the difference between "in spite of" and "despite of" took almost all of their third date, but that was one of the things that happened when you date your boss.

These memories often brought laughter to Kara's face even though Lena had unnecessarily apologized more than enough for "geeking out" on her girlfriend because she was nervous. "I still can't contact the other guy though, batman. My sources in Gotham city aren't very useful, apparently nobody knows who he really is, but I'll keep trying." Lena looked at her and for a moment, her expression changed from attentive to decided and said:

"Perhaps I could be of some assistance with that... I know some people from there... old friends actually." - Lena smiled a small nostalgic smile, but quickly regained composure and was back in her usual boss mode. "Anyway, would you like to take this afternoon off and maybe you can also help me pick out the wine for tonight?" - Lena asked hopefully. "It's Friday anyway and we don't run that story until the end of the month anyway." - She tried again. "I'd love to Lena, but I really want to finish the transcript before the weekend. I have better things planned than being stuck in front of my laptop." - Kara added with a wink.

She has been gaining more and more confidence flirting with her girlfriend, even if they still had to restrain themselves from doing it in front of the others, for now. "But, seriously, give me 20 minutes and I'm done." - Kara added with a hopeful tone. "Okay, I have to stop by L-Corp anyway; Sam needs me to sign up some documents. We can just see each other downstairs in 20 min." "Sounds perfect to me, boss." - replied Kara with a smirk at the end. "Go transcribe now, Miss Danvers, I want no spelling errors in your article." And with that Kara hurried back to her seat while Lena made her exit to the car waiting for her downstairs. It was a good thing Sam had come through when Lena needed somebody to hold the front at L-Corp and Lena would have never entrusted someone random with the responsibilities of CFO.

It felt like ages since Lena last walked out of the elevator on the top floor and into her office, even though she was there last month, she mostly took care of things via email or a conference call, but being in her office made her feel calm and confident in her decision.

"Lena! I'm so happy to see you here, though I'm sorry you had to come in such a rush, this deal is just too complicated and I feel much better when you supervise it." – Sam hugged her shortly and stepped aside from the chair behind the big white desk.

It was one of the things Lena liked most about Sam, she always knew when to step aside and when it came to dealing with the Japanese, there was no one better than Lena herself. Sitting back on her chair, she began reading over the adjustments the other side had made and after marking some paragraph in yellow and emailing them to legal, she was done.

"All done, Sam. Now, we only have to wait for legal to gives us a green light and L-Corp will be in a happy partnership with Sogo International."

"I don't know how you do it all, Lena. You make it seem so easy to run L-Crop and thriving with Catco too." – Sam spoke in awe, she always knew that Lena was exceptional, but lately she just amazed her.

"It's easy when I have the right people by my side and with you here and Kara over at Catco, I am very fortunate to have you guys." – Lena said.

"Oh come on now, don't go all mushy on me because it's Thanksgiving." – Sam said and Lena giggled.

"Speaking of which, what are your plans for tonight? Because Ruby and I would totally use one more player for our Lara Croft game tournament."

"Ah tempting, but I'm spending tonight with Kara and her sister, I'm fairly certain their mom will be there too though." – Lena said with a barely detectable trace of nervousness in her voice.

"So, you guys finally decided to tell everyone else? Good for you, all that hiding was getting ridiculous." – Sam encouraged.

"I know, it's been seven months already, but she wasn't ready and I didn't want to rush her, it's a big decision for her, being with a Luthor and all." – She said serious. It was true, Lena never wanted to push Kara, so she never said anything to rush her and the couple of times Kara told her she'd tell her sister about them "this weekend on sister's night", but ended up not saying anything, Lena didn't complain, she didn't say anything, just kissed Kara and supported her decision.

"But you know Kara doesn't care about that, she never was you as a _Luthor_."

"I know she doesn't, but I'm not so sure about the rest of her family and friends."

"Come on, even James has _succumbed to your charms_ , I'm sure Kara's mom will love you."

"We both know why James is acting so friendly lately and it has nothing to do with my _charms_." – Lena said with a teasing smile.

"Touché. Well, anyway, have fun tonight and think that soon he'll go back to being a jerk with you when he learns you're dating Kara." – Sam laughed.

"Speaking of which, I have to run, I'm picking Kara from Catco and we're going wine shopping before dinner. I suggest you finish up early today as well."

"Wait!" – Sam called after her before Lena had the chance to walk in the elevator.

"Here, I had Jess run downstairs for a cup of coffee for you." – Sam said and shoved a plastic cup in her hands.

"Thanks." – Lena said confused.

"You've been up since 6 am woman, drink up, you'll need it for tonight."

"How do you know I was up at 6?" – Lena asked, now intrigued.

"I saw the last modified date on the Sogo agreement this morning when I got to the office at 8, like normal people do."

"Normal? We are all mad here." – Said Lena and both Sam and her laughed. Sam knew how much Lena loved this story and always quoted part of it when she was feeling silly or in this case, happy.

"Touché boss." – Was what Sam said once the elevator doors had shut and Lena could not hear her. All these dreams she had been having for a couple of weeks must be from all the stress that came with the position of a CFO, she must truly be going mad.

Shopping with Kara was always fun, they talked and laughed, and their hands brushed at times, stealing moments of intimacies between them where everyone could see them.

"Okay, it's half past seven already, we should head back and start getting ready if we want to be on time." – Lena said when she looked at her clock.

"Oh but we have to be at Alex's at nine, we still have time."

"I still don't know what I should wear tonight…"

"I can come by and help you out with your clothes, I'm _super_ -fast you know." – Kara said with a small smirk that made Lena laugh.

"If I wanted someone to get me out of them, you'll be my first choice, but darling we're talking about dinner with your sister and your mom, I do need to be dressed perfectly for that one." – Lena said in a low voice making Kara blush.

Joking about her _super_ side always made them laugh, especially after the incident with the burning ship three months after they had started dating. Lena always knew Kara was Supergirl, of course, but the accident made it "official".

"Okay, okay. You can just wear that black Versace you wore on the children's hospital gala. You looked stunning in it." – Kara said with a dreamy look on her face.

"Yeah, I've noticed you prefer me in dresses, but las time I did wear it, _someone_ tugged a bit too sharply and made a whole in it." – Lena teased and Kara suddenly looked like a tomatoes' twin.

"Don't worry, I'm just teasing you darling. I think I have the perfect dress for tonight." – The CEO smiled and they continued walking back to her car.

From the moment Lena dropped Kara at her place, she could feel the nervousness coming back, being with the bubbly reporter made her feel sure, but being alone let her mind play tricks on her and she didn't like it one bit. She knew that Kara loved her, she had told her as much four months ago, but her mind still doubted it sometimes.

Finally being done with the shower, Lena left her hair to dry on its own, drying it with a blow dryer made her fingers itch with the static electricity every time she touched her hair. For once, she could choose another hairstyle apart from the high ponytails and tight buns, so she went for having most of her hair down, except a lock of hair on each side of her face that she twirled together and put a small hairpin. Her raven locks were naturally curvy and she didn't bother straightening her hair for tonight. Once the hair was done, it was time to get out of that bathrobe and she went directly for her black silk bra and panties with a small white edging, then some light make up that finished with her signature red lipstick and finally it was time for the most important part, the dress.

Lena was still mourning the loss of her black Versace, she had immediately bought a new one, but the delivery had taken longer than expected, so for tonight there was only one viable option left, the Emery Scoop Back Sequin Midi Dress.

When Lena was finished she texted Kara and a heartbeat later, she heard the ring of her doorbell. Having super speed definitely had its perquisites.

"Lena, I was just about to call you, you…" – Kara had begun talking as soon as she heard Lena's heartbeat close from behind the door, but once said door opened… Kara was left speechless and her mouth opened as well.

To say that Lena was beautiful was such understatement as to say that potstickers were okay for eating. Lena was radiant, elegant, fascinating, gorgeous, marvelous, handsome, magnificent, delightful, exquisite… and so much more! (And for the record potstickers are the best food a man could ever invent).

"You look…" – Kara's mind couldn't think of the most perfect adjective to say and Lena just took the compliment from the kryptonian and for a moment basked in the attention she was getting.

"Thank you, miss Danvers, you look quite stunning as well." – She said with a smile on her face and her eyes were shinning with happiness.

Kara was wearing a simple, but elegant black dress with red dots all over, but something was missing and Lena rushed quickly to her bedroom while Kara waited for her on the sofa.

"There's one thing though, that you missed to complete your look with, so I technically got you those for Christmas, but I believe now would be a better use for them." – Lena handed her a small red velvet box.

The box itself wasn't heavy at all and Kara didn't need her X-ray vision to guess what was inside.

"Lena…" – She tried to say that it was too much, but once she opened the box, she lost her ability to speak for the second time this night, because the earrings she found inside were beautiful square shaped diamonds.

"They are beautiful, but…" – Kara tried.

"I promise you if you say it's too much again, I'm not going to accompany you to any new Pixar movie that comes out from now on." – Lena jokingly threatened and Kara laughed.

"Oh you're evil."

"Blame the Luthor genes darling." – Lena said making them both laugh.

Kara gently took the earrings and went to the big mirror that was on the other end of the living room, putting them on gently and looking in the mirror smiling.

"They are gorgeous, but you didn't have to." – Kara turned back and softly kissed Lena.

"I know I didn't have to, I wanted to. Come on, now, we should get going or we're going to be late."

That is how the pair found themselves in front of Alex's front door twenty minutes later, since Lena insisted on taking her car, she loved to drive her own car and having a chauffeur often prevented her from that pleasure.

"Are you sure I shouldn't have brought something more, I mean it is just a wine and…" – Lena fidgeted with the bottle nestled in her hands.

"Relax, Lena. The important thing is that you came, not what you bring." – Kara gave her one last reassuring smile and knocked on her sister's door.

"Hey sis!" – Alex opened the door and squished Kara in a good old sisterly hug.

"Lena! I'm glad to see you could make it! Come in!" – Alex gave her a brief hug too and led them inside.

Ever since Maggie and her separated, Alex avoided having people over, she liked having her apartment for herself and only Kara was allowed to come for their regular sister nights. However, tonight, her apartment was warm and inviting, and from the kitchen was coming a delicious smell of roasted turkey. The kitchen was decorated with white and yellow fairy lights and two wine glasses waited for the newly arrived guests.

A woman with dusty blonde hair was bent over and was checking the bird in the oven, when she heard footsteps behind her and quickly turned around.

"Kara, honey, it's so good to see you!" – Said Eliza when she stepped forward and quickly hugged the kryptonian.

"Mom! I can't wait to tell you all about this article I'm working on, I even have Clark helping me out a bit." – Kara began rambling and remembered that Lena was just behind her.

"Oh I'm sorry, I am so excited to see you here that I totally forgot. Mom this is Lena. Lena this is my mom, Eliza Danvers." – Kara presented them and looked strangely proud of herself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Danvers." – Lena said and extended her hand.

"Oh, call me Eliza please. And the pleasure is all mine. I'm so happy that Kara has amanged to find another friend apart from Alex." – Eliza said with a smile and just as Kara came offering Lena a glass of wine, the doorbell rang again.

"I'll get it." – Said Alex and quickly went to open the door.

"I didn't know we were expecting anyone else." – Said Lena with a surprise in her voice.

"Oh I forgot to tell you. The boys kind of invited themselves the last minute. I was just leaving Catco to meet you and I saw James in the elevator and we talked for a while and he just assumed he was invited, because he did come last year and…" – Right before Kara could finish another set of male voices could be heard talking to Alex, one of them was Winn and the other was Monel's.

"Right and let me guess, Winn and Monel heard you talking and decided to join in too?" – Lena didn't mean to sound annoyed, but she was hoping to have the opportunity to finally be with her girlfriend and not pretend they are just coworkers, there was no way Kara would tell the truth now, not in front of everyone and honestly, Lena had no intention of reminding her.

"Lena, why are you…" – And yet another sentence went unfinished as the three men made their way into the kitchen.

They all seemed pleasantly surprised when they saw Lena there, and between all the greetings and hugs, it was time to set the table. James carries the salads, Alex the mashed potatoes, Winn and Monel were taking care of the glasses and the knives and forks, Lena got to carry the gravy and Kara got the turkey.

The seating on the table was the tricky part because basically all but Alex and Eliza have either been in love with Kara or were currently in love with her (and for a couple of the people around it wasn't sure which statement was more valid), but in the end Monel made his way beside Kara, placing Lena and James together and in front of her.

Even though they all tried to come up with general topics for conversation as the night progressed Lena was becoming sadder and quieter, but only Kara could see the change. Every time Monel passed something to the blonde he'd use the opportunity to let his hand linger a little longer with hers and James butted in, in every conversation Lena and Winn were trying to have.

The man had no understanding of technology or engineering, but what was worse was that he wouldn't stop looking at Lena like a love sick puppy. Thankfully, it was already time for dessert and Lena mentally patted herself on the back for surviving this dinner. She had been up for eighteen hours, working for fourteen of them and she had a front row seat of Monel asking Kara if they could talk.

"We're just about to cut the ice-cream cake, can't it wait?" – The blonde tried, sensing Lena's discomfort.

"No, please Kara. Just give me five minutes." – He pushed again.

Seeing Alex and James nodding their support, Kara gave in and dragged Monel to the couch in the living room. Nothing could be heard from their talk, but Lena could see clearly how Monel took Kara's hands in his own and she didn't even flinch at the contact.

Eliza spent the whole dinner listening to Lena and Winn talk tech and she even enjoyed the interactions between Alex and the girl, she was surprised at first to see Lena here, but after just five minutes with her she had to admit, the young CEO was smart, charming and just a lovely young woman.

James glanced back to where the aliens were seated and saw the exact same moment that made Lena nauseous, but he was oblivious to her discomfort and swiftly kicked Winn under the table. That was his cue, walking together to Alex's apartment James had asked Winn for his help and even though the young man had no idea what had changed in James to want to ask Lena Luthor on a date, he didn't question helping a friend out.

"Alex, let's go help Eliza with the plates and the cake and all that." – Winn said and practically dragged a surprised Alex to the kitchen where Eliza was already cutting the cake.

"Winn, let got of my arm or I promise you, you're gonna regret it." – Alex said looking at him and Winn quickly let her go, he wanted to help his friend, but he valued his life… and his arm.

Meanwhile, James was putting on his best moves on display and Lena was wishing she had a glass of whiskey in her hands instead of water in her glass, because that was too much for her sober self.

"…All I'm saying Lena is that I think we could get to know each other better and maybe see where it leads us. Sure, you are my boss, but we don't have to tell anyone at work." – He finally finished his speech and Lena hadn't registered even one third of it all.

It felt like an hour had passed since they were left alone, like time barely moved, so when Kara and Monel finally returned, Lena focused on what James was saying. Unfortunately for him, she heard the last part of his sentence.

"Kara help me out a little, here, I'm not half bad right?" – James tried to look for support from his friend, but Lena was getting more pissed by the minute and Kara's answer was what tipped the glass for her.

"You are amazing, James." - She said with a voice that made Lena frown at her secret girlfriend.

"Alright, listen very carefully Mister Olsen and listen now because I am not going to repeat myself. I am _not_ interested in getting to know you better, I am _not_ interested in "learning the ropes" from you about how to run a company _I_ bought. I am _not_ interested in stroking your male ego and serving as a conquest trophy for you and I am _definitely not_ , certainly, beyond the shadow of a doubt "into you" as you call it, because I already _am_ dating someone!" – Lena managed to keep her voice calm for the better part of it, but by the end, she was speaking loudly and Alex, Eliza and Winn came from the kitchen, trying to understand what had just happened.

Lena wasn't sorry for putting James down, but she was a bit disappointed that she lost her temper like that and because she was raised to keep her head high, there was only one thing left to do if she wanted to keep her image of a badass, but still be polite enough to Kara's mom.

"Excuse me." – She addressed all the people around the table and looked directly to Alex and Eliza.

"I apologize for my behavior. I have had a very long day and I have an awful headache, I think it's best to call it a night. Alex, thank you for having me over, Eliza it was lovely to meet you." – Lena said with polite smile and shook the older woman's hand, this whole night was a mistake.

"I'll see the rest of you on Monday, have a good weekend." – She told Kara, James and Monel and didn't even bother to say them anything else before making her exit.

"Lena, wait!" – Kara tried, but the young Luthor was already out of the door.

"Seeing someone else? Yeah right, like people would be lining up to date a Luthor." – Snickered James and if Kara wasn't already half way downstairs she would've put him into place.

Kara was fast, but she didn't want to expose herself as Supergirl, so she kept her walk at a human speed, but when she got to the street, it was already too late. Her foot stepped outside just in time to see the backlights of Lena's Maserati Ghibli speeding away from her and for the first time in her life, Kara felt chills running through her body.

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II: A _legendary_ moment**

 _AN: Hello guys! I'm so excited to be writing this fic, your feedback has been awesome! You're the best! This chapter shaped itself though so the story will change a bit, but it will be for the better, we have a loooot of stuff to see still. So, in the first chapter we saw the beginning of the flashback from the day of the infamous dinner, now we see how it ends (that's why it ends the same way as the fist begins). Perhaps it's a bit chaotic, but that's why I decided to elaborate on it just in case. Sorry for any and all errors, I have read it so many times that I can't even notice the missing S in third person anymore. Enjoy! I can't wait for your comments and pm's on this one._

 _***Lena***_

It is not easy to handle life. It is not easy to look for the positive side of bad situations, but it what Lena was feeling at this very moment was infinitely more complicated. She barely made it to her apartment without visibly showing how she was feeling, last thing she wanted (and needed) was to make a news cover for tomorrow's newspapers. She parked her Maserati and with quickly paced steps, she walked to the private elevator that would take her to her penthouse apartment.

It was rather cliché right, the CEO with the top floor, huge apartment, the fast cars and the pricy suits and jewelry, but Lena never acted snobbish like the rest of her family, so what if she enjoyed the luxury of her money? Growing up, Lena could see that all rich kids were raised alike, but there were only so many options for them when they became adults. The bad side of having an overactive brain is that the brunette couldn't just stop thinking, she was always analyzing. At first, she did that so she could better fit in with the surrounding into which she was adopted, but with time the habit did not stop, it only intensified. There were common factors of course, every rich kid knows how to ride a horse, play chess and poker, inevitably drink their sorrows and look like the definition of perfection every time a gala was organized.

Most of her acquaintances were the most common example of the rich upbringing, spoilt brats to no end, vain and eventually even drug dealing and gambling their money away. Then there was the small group that had its embodiment in Lex, smart, charming, cunning, but with a charismatic front, he could sweet talk for days, but his ultimate goal was never good. He was smart, but his intellect never brought anything good to the world, only waves of destruction.

Then there was Lena, brilliant and bright, young, conflicted and troubled. Lena had every excuse to become like Lex, they grew up almost the same way after all, but Lena had something none other Luthor before her ever did. She had a pure heart and she manage to keep it untainted despite the numerous attempts from her mother and brother to "redirect her" to the right path.

Twenty years after she was adopted into the Luthors, Lena was named number one humanitarian in the country (and soon in the world) with the millions she had invested in renewable energy and scientific research, the numerous charities and projects she personally supervised.

However, on nights like this one, she could not stop the fury she was feeling in her heart and the moment she stepped into the hallway leading to her bedroom, rivers of hot, messy tears began flowing down her face.

Just as she was about to enter the bathroom and remove the make up from the day, her TV turned on automatically on channel five, showing a live report from the alien attack downtown. Lena may have felt heartbroken since Kara told her how amazing James was, but now that damned hart of hers hurt even more, because her Kara was in danger once again.

 _***Kara***_

It is not easy to handle life. Especially when you try to keep a secret for the first time in your entire existence. Not even Alex knew the real extent of how bad the night had turned out, but before she got the chance to fly after Lena's car, she could easily catch up with the Maserati, but Alex showed up on the window and called her.

"Kara! J'onn just called!" – Alex shouted and just like that instead of flying after Lena, Kara slumped her shoulders and got back to the apartment in a blink.

Alex was already strapping her gun to her side and going towards the door.

"Kara, there's an alien attack downtown, J'onn needs our help." – Alex said again and ran out of the door. Kara only threw a furious look at the men that were still seated around the table in the kitchen talking among themselves. They were tipsy already, so logically, it was better for them not to meddle in that particular situation, Kara wanted to have the pleasure of smacking James before some alien killed him.

"Let's go, Kara, can you fly me there? It would be a lot faster." – Asked Alex and Kara didn't even nod before Alex could feel a gush of wind in her face and in two seconds she was standing next by the Martian who was already handing Alex a tablet to debrief her. Showing them pictures taken from the helicopters that were flying around.

"J'onn what's the situation?" – Asked Kara.

"We have a team of two hostiles, they appear to have some sort of mind control capabilities because ever since we came the DEO agents have been trying to immobilize, but not eliminate the people that seem to be helping them. The aliens seem to have built a human shield around them, making sure they are safe and others do the dirty job for them." – J'onn said rather angrily.

"I'll see if I can fly from above and deal with the aliens, Alex you can help the rest of the agents." – Kara was almost in the air when her sister called after her.

"Kara, wait!" – Shouted Alex.

"Look!" – The older Danvers said and pointed her fingers to the only shot from all the pictures on her tablet and Kara's mind froze for a moment.

"Oh, that's just peachy… Tonight is going to be a long night guys." – Kara grunted and shot up in the air.

Dominators were the last thing Kara wanted to deal with tonight, she wasn't even sure she had it in her to deal with that right now, not while the memory of Lena's hurt face kept replaying in her mind.

The DEO agents were trying their very best to handle the human factor in this scenario, but the two dominators didn't seem to have any problem recruiting new people with every second and Kara was acting with extreme caution around the earthlings. A simple punch from her would most probably be deadly to most of them so she couldn't just plunge into their protective circle.

After half an hour of failed attempts, more and more people were beginning to pool around the agents and the superhero, that's why Kara hated dealing with dominators.

"Guys, the situation is getting out of hand!" – Kara said over the coms.

Alex was currently trying to subdue one very heavy looking bearded guy and J'onn was trying to lessen the dominator's hold on some of the people, but for now only managing to exhaust himself in the process.

"We need a plan!" – Alex shouted back, this was getting ridiculous.

As soon as the words left Alex's mouth a bright light appeared in the sky, for a moment everything around them became as bright as a day, but it faded as quickly as it came and a huge metal spaceship appeared in the skies right above them.

"J'onn call for back up, this is not looking good." – Alex said.

Calling for backup meant many civilian victims caught in the crossfire and nobody wanted that, but it seemed like the only option left at this point.

"No, wait! J'onn Wait a second." – Kara quickly intervened.

The space ship touched the ground swiftly and without a second of delay the doors opened and from there came out various figures, they looked human and there was a flash of recognition on Kara's face.

"Thank Rao!" – Kara said with obvious relief in her voice.

"What is it Kara? What's going on." – Alex asked nervously.

"No need to call for backup J'onn, we have it handled." – Kara said when finally in front of her stood a blonde she had never expected to see so soon.

"Need a hand, Supergirl?" – The blonde asked with a smirk.

"Normally, I'd say I got it, but since you flew here at this precise moment I think you already know the real answer to the question. Just … be careful, I think my sister enjoys spending time with you when you're in one piece." – Kara sassed and Alex quickly put 2 and 2 together, blushing deeply and not knowing whether to thank or curse her luck right now.

Thankfully Sara didn't comment on that part (for now at least) and proceeded with giving orders. Amaya and Zari were helping Kara break the human circle around the aliens with as little casualties as possible, Rory and Nathan were helping the DEO and Alex and Ray were trying to find out what the dominators wanted.

 _***Lena***_

It was already 2 am and the situation downtown wasn't looking any better than before. There wasn't much Lena could do beside wait and worry, so she decided to put her efforts into something useful. She hit mute on the TV controller and looked at the time, she had the opportunity to reveal the final draft of the agreement of partnership with the Japanese company that legal had mailed her back a few hours ago and sign it if everything was ok.

 _***Kara***_

"Sara, we really need a plan." – Kara said.

"I know, I know. Ray can you… oh damn it! Not him!" – Sara stopped mid-sentence and chose some rather colorful words to describe her frustrations that even made Rory blush a little.

"Guys, we have a problem, Darhk is here and he's talking with the dominators!" – Sara shouted in her coms.

"A problem is having two crazy dominators trying their damn best to enslave National city, Darhk sweet-talking said dominators is a disaster, Sara!" – Ray said back.

"Don't get hung on the semantics Palmer, just give me your shrinking gun and we can at least try to contain them."

"It's not a … whatever, let Kara come and get it, I have it with me." – He had long since given up on trying to explain to his team the technical term of his invention.

"No, no, no!" – Sara kept repeating as Damien was offering his hand to the dominators, surely such "evolved" aliens couldn't fall for his tricks… right?

Well… wrong. The dominators looked only for a second at the offered hand and then accepted it, quickly disappearing into thin air, leaving all the people around falling to the ground, exhausted and with no recollection of what had just happened.

"What in Rao's name just happened?" – Asked Kara as she grabbed Sara's hand to check if she was all right.

"What happened is that saving this world just became ten times harder." –Sara said and they both moved to rejoin their teams.

"Kara, are you okay?" – Alex rushed between the DEO agents and the newly arrived guests and started checking Kara for injuries. Spending time huffing around her sister meant avoiding Sara and the flirty comments that would no doubt come at some point during the debrief, but for now Alex was happy to postpone it at least a little while.

"I'm fine Alex, I promise, but I need you to do me a favor."

"Sure, whatever you need."

"Can you write my report tonight? I need to leave right now and I'm sure J'onn will have a lot of questions and the Legends will have some explaining to do, but can it all just wait until tomorrow? I need to see… Lena now." – Kara said shyly and almost afraid, but Alex quickly understood what she meant.

"I'm not sure 100% about what happened at dinner Kara, you haven't said anything and I respect your privacy, but if what I suspect of this situation turns out to be the truth, you messed up big time." – Alex said with a gentle voice.

"I…I…" – Kara tried to talk, but no words came out of her mouth.

"Don't tell me anything right now Kara, I know you can't lie and I'm not going to pressure you into admitting something you're not ready to admit. But when you are ready, I'm here for you sis." – Alex said and gave her a warm smile.

Kara always knew Alex was the best sister she could ever ask for, but this moment made her even more sure about it, so she just smiled and flied away, because no more words were needed between them.

The lights of the top floor apartment were still on and as soon as Lena heard the balcony door slide open, she rushed forward to the hero who just entered the room. Usually, Lena wouldn't waste a second and throw herself in Kara's arms. She needed to feel her, to reassure herself that she was still there, her heart was still beating and her lungs were still breathing, only now she didn't know how to proceed and for the first time in a long while looked nervously at the floor.

"I'm glad you're okay Kara." – Lena said quietly.

"I could be much better if my girlfriend would at least look at me." – Kara said and as soon as she said those words the regretted it immediately, because the anger in Lena's eyes came back and hurt flooded her again.

"So now, I am your girlfriend? Now when it's just the two of us?" – Lena asked bitterly and looked at Kara with teary eyes.

"Lena, I was just…"

"No, Kara. No more excuses. I am not mad that you decided to hide our relationship from your family, again, I'm not even mad that you let Monel kiss you…"

"He didn't kiss me."

"What?"

"He didn't kiss me, I moved away before he got the chance to." – Kara said with a small voice.

"It doesn't matter, Kara. I am just done with this. We have been going out for seven months and all this time has been both the best and the absolute worst for me. I am mad that you had the nerve to tell me how great James was and almost plan my date with you when you know how he's been acting lately around me. I am mad, Kara, because I spent so much time hiding from my own family and friends that all this sneaking around for months with you has made me remember that time again. I took me a long while to accept myself as I am, to accept my happiness mattered. You played such a huge role in that realization and you know it, but lately being with you is just hurting me…" – Lena sounded angry at first, but ultimately she was just broken with heartache.

"Lena, I love you." – Kara tried again and took a step closer to Lena, but the CEO quickly took a step back, distancing herself from Kara.

At this point, Kara had no idea what hurt her more Lena's reaction to her previously welcomed touch or her words.

"I know, Kara. I love you too, but right now, I can't even express how mad I am with you." – Lena said.

"Why was Monel even at the dinner? Last time I checked he was married." – Lena asked.

"He came because apparently James and Winn had talked him into it, besides daxamites aren't known for their fidelity."

"Oh great, just what I needed to hear."

"I didn't kiss him Lena and I never will. Things are different now, being with you made me realize how amazing it is to be with someone who appreciates and respects you. We've been together for seven months and you never once pushed me to talk to my family, I do appreciate your patience with me, I am only sorry that it was hurting you. I would never let anyone or anything hurt you Lena and to know that I've caused you this pain is worse than being exposed to a kryptonite. I just fought two dominators and all I could think was your face when you drove away from Alex's apartment."

"I needed to get out of there."

"I know, I messed up big time." – Unconsciously remembering and repeating her sister's words made Kara feel dizzy with everything that had happened in such short amount of time, but before she could fall back, she steadied herself, putting a hand on the nearby chair.

Lena could see the exhaustion on Kara's face and body posture, the usually perky hero had her shoulders slumped down and she was barely standing in front of her.

"Come on Kara, let's just go to bed. We are in no condition to have this conversation tonight."

"You're right, I will come back tomorrow after I finish the debriefing with the DEO." – Kara said and moved back to the balcony, ready to leap into the air and fly to her apartment.

"Where are you going? Have you forgotten where the bedroom is?" – Lena asked.

"No, I was… I just thought…" – Kara was stammering like a child now.

"Just because I'm angry with you doesn't mean I don't care for you, Kara. You are in no condition for flying so just go put on some pj's and let's go to sleep.

"Okay…I'm sorry I interrupted your work…" – Kara tried to sound coherent even though her eyes were already closing.

"I signed the documents hours ago, I was just busying myself while I waited for you." – Lena admitted and helped Kara to her bedroom.

…

It was already 4 am and she finally fumbled with the satin sheets of her bed. She was spent; her bones even ached and her muscles were strained, every inch of her body felt heavier than a family of elephants and her eyes closed in a sleepless haze as soon as her head hit the pillow. Today was the most tiring day of her life and yes, she did just finish a partnership agreement with an important Japanese company, but Lena Luthor wasn't a stranger to hard work and this was actually the easiest part of the whole day. What weighted heavily on her was the pretending, it even made her stomach physically hurt.

Tonight, Lena Luthor laid in her bed listening to the rain drops splashing angrily against the tall windows of her bedroom and just as she was about to let sleep finally claim her consciousness a strong arm encircled her waist and pulled her closer to the body behind her. A strong scent of apples, honey and a hint of vanilla enveloped her; Lena smiled sadly and let herself be tugged closer to the source of that magnificent smell.

 _TBC…_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III: Playing with fire

AN: Hi guys! I hope you've had an amazing start of the new year, if not I'm sure it will get better very soon. I know I haven't updated in a while, but with all the holidays it was a bit difficult, however I'm back on the saddle, full with new ideas, so I'll start updating more regularly again. Thank you for your patience and your kudos and comments and pms! You are amazing and I'm so glad you share your thoughts and opinions with me. I hope you enjoy this chapter, the best parts are yet to come though, up until this point, is more or less the introduction and setting for the story.

AN1: ( Spoiler!) Be warned guys, in this chapter I trashed James' character a bit, so I am sorry if he's your favorite, but that's just how I see him in this story, not necessarily how everyone else see it or think of him as.

 _Y_ ou know these sleepy warm mornings, where the first sun rays slowly creep into your room and make everything seem lighter than usual, you breathe lighter, your mind is blank and even for a few blessed moments you cannot remember your problems. The daemons that haunted your dreams are no longer there when you close your eyes, there is only light and warm in the room, and a strong body behind you sleepy tugs you closer. You begin waking up slowly, lazily opening your eyes and breathing the crispy air of the morning come washing over you from the half-opened window, making you shiver slightly. You know the feeling you get when you turn in your comfortable bed, you see the most beautiful, and amazing person in the whole world, trying to bury their head in the crook of your neck in order to prolong the pleasurable rest, trying to escape the outside world and responsibilities for just a few more stolen minutes of calm and quiet? These weekend mornings that you can't wait to open up your eyes and breathe the heavenly aroma of freshly brewed coffee and blueberry pancakes, tiptoeing to the kitchen to secretly admire the goofy dance moves of your gorgeous girlfriend…

Well… this morning was nothing like it. It wasn't sunny outside and the daemons from Lena's sleep didn't disappear when she opened her eyes, her heart didn't flutter when she sensed Kara behind her, in fact, she suddenly tensed up, feeling insecure about her current position. She always felt at ease with Kara, even yearned for the hugs and kisses the journalist freely gave her, but not now. Now, she was beginning to feel trapped, uncomfortable and the more she thought about the reason of her feelings, the more the sleepy mist in her mind cleared… the angrier she was getting.

When you spend the last six months sleeping next to someone and spend your every free minute with them you start noticing some things, some little quirks and habits each of them had (they tried keeping it casual the first month of their relationship, but pretty soon they discovered that they were anything but casual). A normal person could see the change in Lena this morning, even more so could feel the kryptonian. The moment Lena's heartbeat changed, Kara noticed it, she just enjoyed having the brunette in her embrace too much to open her eyes.

The last daughter of Krypton was dreading the moment she would have to open her eyes to the new day because that meant seeing Lena awake and sad again, and they'd finally have to talk about last night. Kara wasn't a conflictive person, she didn't like conflict situations, they were Supergirl's specialty, but with Lena she was always more Kara Danvers than Supergirl, Lena gave her a sense of normalcy, an escape from the expectations, a break from the red cape strapped to her back and all that… was on the verge of disappearing. So, Kara wanted to be selfish for a few more minutes, but the second she felt Lena pulling away from her she quickly lifted her hand and yawned awake.

"Did you manage to get some sleep?" – Kara asked in a raspy voice, traces of sleep still lingering behind her eyes.

"I should be asking you that. You had to deal with those aliens after all." – Lena said in a low voice, sitting slowly in the bed.

"I can handle an alien, but seeing you so distant is breaking my heart Lena." – Kara said as she too sat up, dragging the covers to cover at least their legs.

"And what about my heart, Kara? Did you think of that last night? Did you think of how I was going to feel at that party when you not only cowered out of telling your family again, but you also left me with James while you "talked" with Monel?" – Lena asked.

The CEO had not even raised her voice, but to Kara's ears, she might as well have been shouting her frustration.

"I didn't want this to happen. Alex was there too, I thought you'd just continue your science talk with her." – Kara began, but Lena didn't give her a chance to finish.

"While you went to talk with a married man, who's still in love with you, decided it was a good idea to give him one final kiss and then come back and arrange a date for your friend?"

"It wasn't a final kiss Lena, I'd never do that to you! I swear, I pushed him away."

"Okay…okay, but why did you have to push me onto James though? When I've told you so many times how he was acting lately around me?"

"I panicked, I knew you saw how Monel tried to kiss me and I just wanted to take you away from there and explain what had happened."

"And _that_ was the best way to do it? When you could've just as easily told them the _truth_ and save us all this?!" – Lena asked with a quirked eyebrow.

There was an uncomfortable pause in the conversation and Lena shivered from the cold morning air, but when Kara held the blanket to her to pull it up a little more, she shook her head and brought her knees up to her chest instead. That damn Luthor stubbornness.

"I love you Lena, I am in love with you. Whatever happened with Monel, it's in the past and it's staying there. Even if he wasn't married, he and I were a mistake, a delusion I thought could lead to something positive. Not knowing what I was missing on with you. All of our lunch dates when you tried to get me to eat all sorts of green veggies and our dinners in this very apartment, the walks around the park and the afternoons in the children's hospital… I'd never trade this, what we have now, I'd never want anything more." – Kara said with a broken voice.

"I love you too Kara and I believe you that you wouldn't trade it, but it seems you'd let me share it with James too. But, please, do tell me how that would work, lunch with you and then off to a nice, romantic dinner with him? Bring him back here for a drink, offer you the couch for the night?" – Lena was crossing a line and she knew it, but a very little part of her enjoyed playing with fire. With each word that Lena said, Kara went from sad to angry, to raging at the thought of James or anyone else even looking at Lena like that, like she was theirs. Seeing Kara trying to keep her calm, made Lena wanting to push the blonde even more, she wanted to make her feel as hurt as she had felt last night and sure some would call that childish, others would call it evil, but in all honesty, it was just human nature and the misfortune of having a grey moral compass, trademark of her Luthor upbringing.

"Would you have me take James for a night around the city? Give him one of your favorite tours in the Museum of art after hours? Show him the cabin in the woods and after a delightful Friday brunch with you, take him and go there for the weekend?" – The slight, almost unnoticeable smile in the corner of Lena's lips and that voice was what made Kara lose all composure and throw caution at the wind, the second Lena relaxed her legs again.

Lena was talking slowly, seductively, punctuating every question, throwing shamelessly at her every special time and every place they have shared during these seven months of secretly dating. The afterhours tour around the Museum was always one of Kara's favorite activities, on more than one occasion she got to enjoy more than just the paintings and sculptures at the museum.

The moment Lena finished her question; Kara was already sitting in front of her, straddling her legs still careful of her weight on top of the CEO.

"I will throw him into space the second he tried to hug you or take you by the hand, I'll fly him to Siberia the next time he so much as talks to you outside of a Catco meeting." – There was a fire burning in Kara's eyes, no not burning, raging.

"It looked like you weren't so opposed of the idea last night." – Lena played smart again.

"I was a coward, but I'm not an idiot. James does not deserve being with you, he has doubted you since you came to National City, you deserve so much more than a boy playing superhero." – Kara said, leaning closer to Lena. She could smell the vanilla, peach and top notes of lemon from the brunette's usual perfume when Lena closed the distance between them and with their lips barely touching she whispered:

"And how long until you change your mind again?"

She didn't even had to answer that one, Kara finally kissed her and just like their morning, there was nothing sweet or innocent about that kiss, it was lustful, rough and desperate. A kiss wasn't going to solve their problem, but at least Lena didn't want to jump out of bed and run anymore.

The kiss was prompted from the emotions of the moment, the tension, the want, the jealousy, the need, the desperation... even the love they felt for each other. But, it ended as suddenly as it had started when Lena pushed Kara back.

It was a bittersweet moment, the kiss gave Kara hope, but Lena's words still wandered around in her mind, her provocation, her sadness and what was the most unbearable part for the blonde, the disappointment Lena was feeling and the coldness her affections were met with and a tense silence ruled upon them again.

Before either of them could speak again, Kara's phone rang and Alex's DEO number flashed on the screen, forcing Kara to abandon her current sitting position and moving to the side of her nightstand and grab the phone from its charger.

"Hey Alex, I can't talk right now…" – Kara tried saying, but the voice on the other side of the phone didn't stop talking.

"I understand." – Kara said after a minute of listening intently on what Alex was telling her.

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can." – Kara said and hug up, sitting back in bed only to see Lena standing up and going toward the bathroom.

"You have to go I assume?" – Lena asked already knowing the answer.

"I still have a few minutes." – Kara tried as she walked up to Lena.

"What we have to talk about will take more than just a few minutes Kara and I need to gather my thoughts anyway." – Lena said looking directly in her eyes.

Kara wasn't used to Lena being so cold with her, she was used to hugs and flirtatious sassiness from the youngest Luthor, this situations seemed just like a nightmare she once had.

"Alright, I'll just go to the DEO then, I won't … umm… I don't want to tell you what to do, but try not going to Catco today. We still have no idea where the aliens from last night went and what their plan is." – Kara said tried to appear as much composed as she could.

"I won't. And… Kara?" – Said Lena after Kara had changed her clothes in a heartbeat and was ready to fly out to the DEO.

"Be careful out there." – She said with a steady voice, but her eyes betrayed her actual worry.

Normally, Kara would rush back for one last kiss, but today wasn't a normal day and she could still remember how Lena had pushed her away earlier and so she just gave Lena a small smile and nodded slightly before flying out.

 _TBC…_


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter IV: Hello old friend_

 _ **AN**_ _: Wow! Hi guys! Okay, so this chapter is a bit longer than usual and it's starting to get complicated. I honestly had no idea it was going to develop like that when I first started writing this story, but some ideas just pop up when you start writing, you know? I am trying not to leave any story inconsistencies, but if you have some questions, don't hesitate to ask me. I am also trying to build up some character traits of our heroes, but we'll see how it turns out in the end. THANK YOU so much for all your comments and kudos! I cannot wait to read your opinions on this one._

 _ **AN 1**_ _:_ _WARNING_ _: In this story that is completely fictional, James and Monel are not portrayed like heroes, they're rather a "pain in the ass" (sorry for the expression, but it's the most accurate one). I don't mean to offend anybody with it, it's just a story, so please if you feel offended, just don't read it. Also, it is impossible to find a good onomatopoeia of whistling, I tried searching all over the internet. Oh and…. New characters! _

Kara was a planner, most of the time anyway, she had her mourning routines and none of them included not kissing Lena before flying off to the DEO or flying into a bird because she was too distracted to actually pay attention to the small creature. Therefore, yes, it is safe to say that this morning was already starting shitty.

The DEO was always something of a "safe haven" for her, a tranquil, quiet place where she could leave all of Kara Danvers' problems (unchecked spelling articles, new deadlines, how to convince Lena to have potstickers for dinner again…) outside the walls of the building and just be Kara Zor-El, Supergirl (National City's most beloved hero and inspiration to all young girls). The latter did sound rather glamorous Kara had to admit.

However, today was the day when the DEO was everything BUT quiet. Instead of agents and analysts working soundlessly, moving around with files and forms for signing like a well-oiled parts of a big machine, the DEO agents dressed in black were currently watching the shouting match that was happening in the middle of the office space.

"It was a bad idea Sara!" – A tall, beautiful blonde shouted at Sara who was otherwise occupied shouting at Ray.

"How was I supposed to know that the effect of the shrinking glove only lasted for an hour?! I didn't think Nate would try to shrink an actual lion!" – Ray defended himself.

"Amaya was the one who refused to leave that thing injured!" – Nate tried defending himself, but Amaya shot him a death glare.

"Really Nate? Now, it's my fault?"

"I'm not saying that, it's just that…"

"If I were you, I'd keep my mouth shut haircut."

"Guys! Knock it off!"

It was a full cacophony of yelling voices among the team of the legends, J'onn and Alex were having a discussion of their own on the outer part of the circle and Winn and James were desperately trying to explain something to Monel who was clearly not listening to them.

The DEO was in complete and utter chaos today and Kara walked in just during the pinnacle of all the arguing. She had rarely seen Sara shout, much less to her own crew, but now they were pointing fingers at each other and bickering like children. Alex had her hands on her hips, clearly trying to match J'onn, and her face betrayed how angry she actually felt.

There were a few additions to team legends, dominators attacked the city once again, her girlfriend seemed like she could not wait until she got out of the house this morning, the article she had to write on her cousin was due in a week and she hadn't even started the first draft… Kara had enough.

"Vreeeeeeeeeeeeeeew." – Kara whistled so loudly that every head in the DEO turned towards her, all of a sudden silence filled the air and the before everyone could start arguing again, Kara walked up to them and began talking.

"Now that I have your attention, could someone please explain what exactly is happening here?" – Kara regretted that question as soon as the words left her mouth.

Everyone had something to say, Sara tried grabbing her attention first, but soon the unknown blonde joined the conversation and then the boys and it was just as before, but Kara's patience was dangerously low this morning.

"Quiet!" – Shouted the blonde superhero louder than everyone and lifted her finger in the air, daring anyone with her eyes to say just one more word. Thankfully, even Rory knew better than to challenge a cranky kryptonian. Alex and J'onn decided to stop and observe as well, each of them remembering the last time Kara was so worked up, she had gone through a few concrete blocks, just because someone was trying to make Lena look evil, again.

"Sara, just Sara." – Kara specified.

"What are you guys doing here? We haven't had a dominator's presence around since the last time and last night there were two of them. So, please, tell me what's going on? And who is she?" – Kara asked quickly and nodded towards the second blonde in the team.

"Simply said… we broke time… Oh and this is agent Sharpe from the Time bureau and Zari Tomaz, she's from the future." – Sara said sheepishly, already expecting the incredulous looks she was receiving from everyone but her team.

"You did what now?" – Asked Alex with wide eyes, completely ignoring the additional information about the new members of the team, she was only surprised they hadn't brought the lion they were arguing about earlier along with them.

"Ladies… perhaps it would be better if we take this to the conference room?" – Said J'onn. Even though it was phrased as a question, everyone knew that it really wasn't one.

Everyone nodded in agreement either way and made their way to the other side of the room, entering two at a time, it felt strange to have all these people in the DEO, but there was a part of Kara that was glad to see her friends again.

Alex and Sara led the way and actual soft giggling could be heard between them and even though Kara was curious to know why they were acting like a couple of schoolgirls, she decided against using her super hearing abilities. And so, once everyone was seated around the oval table, it was time to tell the whole story. The kryptonian was so focused on untangling the jurisdictional nightmare that was getting worse and worse by the second that didn't even feel the vibration from her phone that told her she had just received a message.

"Miss Lance, please explain what did you meant with your earlier statement?" – Asked J'onn always so polite.

It's been a while since anyone had addressed her as "Miss Lance", even Martin had taken up to calling her just Sara before… everything that happened, so the blonde was a bit surprised, but quickly remembered that she was dealing with people who weren't used to her team's dynamics.

"I said, we broke time and this is exactly what happened, but I didn't realize it would extend so quickly to other universes as well." – Sara began, but the other's confused stares told her she should just give them the simple version of the events.

"There was a battle, a very important one and also one that we lost and the spear of destiny ended in the wrong hands, in order to fix it, we had to go back in time, again, and thus we violated the most important law of time traveling…"

"Never go back to the same place and time twice." – Casually filled in Ava and Sara gave her a look that simply reminded her that she was the captain of the Legends.

"After we went back and interacted with ourselves, we managed to get the spear, but time quakes started happening and hundreds of anachronisms appeared all over history. While trying to fix things as they were, we learnt that Damien Darhk and his daughter had not only survived, but were also recruiting some of the most despicable villains across history on behalf of something much worse… We… know that Darhk is working for a mysterious _entity_ called Mallus."

" _Entity_?" – Asked Monel, but nobody seemed to pay him any attention.

"So, following your explanations, you're saying that on top of his army of psychopaths, this Mallus _thing_ also has two dominators on his side?" – Asked Winn and gulped audibly.

"You should've just stayed in your universe; we have enough with our own problems than to take care of yours." – Said Monel and Kara barely contained herself from shooting him with her laser vision.

"Ignore him, we do." – Said Alex and turned her attention back to Sara.

"For once, I think, he is right Alex." – Jumped in James.

"What?" – Both Alex and Kara asked surprised in unison.

"All I am saying is that we have more than enough on our plates without having to deal with an all-powerful being from another universe wanting to unleash hell on our earth." – James tried to sound confident.

"Because that would make hitting on our bosses suddenly more difficult is that it James?" – Kara finally asked and this time didn't try to hide the anger in her voice. She was angry with him for quite some time now, she just didn't choose the best moment to show it, but in Kara's defense, he was being a jerk.

"Wow Kara, you're the one to speak…" – He said back.

"What is that supposed to mean?" – Asked Kara.

"You are always taking _our_ boss to lunches and bunches, you go with her to all the galas, and paparazzi even caught you together in the children's hospital! You even have sleepovers for God sake, Lena would never wear a _baby pink polo_ to work." – James kept pressing.

"And how do you know what she would wear James? Have you catalogued her wardrobe?" – Kara continued his game, but the anger in her voice had turned into rage and Alex was getting worried that James was just asking to get punched.

"Kara." – Alex tried to calm her sister and put a hand on her shoulder and in a moment, Kara's rage had shifted into something else. Something that only red K (and Lena) brought out in her, her sassy sarcastic side.

"Tell me James, do you get up every morning thinking what Lena would be wearing today? What new pickup line to use on her, hoping she'll finally say yes to that dinner with you?" – Kara asked and she paid no attention to the room full of people who were now trying to look everywhere but at her and James.

"Kara, stop talking." – Alex tried again, but Kara shook her hand off and stood up from her chair. The older Danvers had no official confirmation about her sister and the youngest Luthor, but up until this point she had no idea how deep the connection between them was. She wanted to give Kara her time, time for herself, to come to terms with her relationship and her feelings, most of the time admitting the truth to yourself was the hardest part of it all.

"Oh I know she'll say yes, she's just putting up a show. I remember how she kissed me a few weeks ago." – James said over confidently and every woman in the room rolled her eyes, Sara even barely contained herself from punching him herself.

"A show? You think Lena is putting on a show for _you_?" – Kara smirked, even though on the inside she was hurting, remembering said kiss was pure torture for her and the anger from earlier returned. However, she had to remind herself that James had no idea that Lena and she were together, so technically he had not done anything wrong and Lena did push him away.

"Sure, Lena kissed you, but I also dated Monel at one point, so we all have our rock bottoms. But you know just one of her kisses James, you have no idea how Lena kisses _me_ every time we go back to our hotel room after a gala, every night behind closed doors when she kisses _my_ neck and bite that spot where my shoulders begin. You have no idea how she kisses _my_ lips first thing in the morning when she has just woken up and her hair is all over the pillows. You cannot even imagine how she kisses me in her office after a long day at CatCo, cannot begin to comprehend how she kisses _me_ every time she makes me scream her name in the middle of the night…" – Kara talked with clenched fists and nobody could believe Kara Danvers was capable to talk like that, even J'onn seemed extremely surprised and equally embarrassed, that was TMI for him.

"Kara!" – Alex shouted before her sister could continue, she definitely didn't need more details, but most importantly she knew that this was not the way her sister would've wanted to tell the team about her relationship with Lena.

"Kara, can we talk for a moment _outside_?" – Alex asked, enough things were said in front of people who didn't need to hear them, at least not under these circumstances.

Both sisters stepped outside and nobody except J'onn could hear what they were saying, for once, privacy be damned.

" _Kara, what just happened?" – Asked Alex confused._

" _I'm sorry Alex, this is not how you were supposed to find out. I was pretty rude huh?" – Kara asked with a small voice, sounding like the usual Kara again._

" _You were a bit, but James had it coming. What I'm more worried about is you though, Lena seemed very upset that night. Did you guys talk about it, you didn't exactly handle the situation well."_

" _I know, I shouldn't have gone with Monel and I definitely shouldn't have acted as an advertising agency for James, but I panicked. I … I love her Alex." – Kara said looking at the floor._

" _Mmm okay, I know you like her, but love is a strong word sis."_

" _We've been together for seven months now, I love her." – Kara said more confident now._

" _Seven months? Jeez, you are a nitwit." – Alex said more as a matter of fact than an accusation though._

" _Thank sis, just the cheering up I needed." – Kara pouted._

" _I'm sorry, but I think my respect for Lena just tripled after knowing that. Seven months is a lot of time waiting for someone to acknowledge your relationship, Kara."_

" _We might not be into one for much longer, she barely even looked at me last night."- Kara was strangely very interested in the floor now._

" _You're lucky she even let you sleep over at her place last night, objectively speaking." – Alex hurriedly added that last part, not wanting to make her sister feel even worse._

" _Look sis, we need to have a lengthy conversation about all this, but right now, we need to get back in that room and find out how we can help with that Mallus thing." – Alex said and looked at Kara with the same look in her eyes that had nothing but love for her little idiot sister. Until now, the only thing Kara had admitted to love were potstickers, it was definitely a progress if she applied this phrase to Lena as well and objectively speaking, Alex was already quite fond of the youngest Luthor anyway._

" _You're right, Sara seems pretty shaken about all this and it's making me twitchy myself."_

" _Okay, so are you ready to go back in… and not throw James and Monel out of the window?" – Alex laughed and Kara did as well._

" _Can't say I'm not tempted, but yes, let's go back in. Alex…thank you… for everything." – Kara said and stepped forward to hug Alex. She thought that the DEO was her safe haven, but she was wrong, there was nothing safer that her big sister's hug._

When the two stepped back in the room, everyone else, including James and Monel, were listening to Sara and Ava explaining the succession of events after Barry and Iris' wedding and how they ended up jumping with the Waverider to the moment the dominators attacked National City.

 *****Meanwhile in CatCo*****

"Miss Luthor, here is your coffee and your next meeting is in twenty minutes." – Eve entered carefully the office of her boss, juggling hot coffee in one hand and a bunch of papers and folders in the other.

"Eve, I told you, you don't have to bring me my coffee every time, I know where the break room is." – Lena said, but not because she wasn't grateful, she just didn't want the other women to feel obligated.

"I know, I just thought I could save you the trip." – Eve said with a smile.

People rarely paid attention to a Luthor's feelings, most even assumed they didn't have any, but Eve has always been kind to Lena, she even reminded her a bit of Jess. It was strange not to have her best assistant by her side, but she knew that Sam would need all the help she could get with L-Corp, so the best Lena could do was let Jess stay there and help out.

Eve was always smiley and at first Lena thought the woman had some kind of a superhero crush on her, but with the passing weeks and months, she found out that Eve was incredibly friendly person and little by little, she became her favorite assistant in CatCo.

Lena was reviewing the articles for the next issue of the magazine when she saw a blank space where a draft should've been. Kara's draft. This was what Lena hated about working with her girlfriend, she also had to be her boss occasionally. Lena quickly took her phone and sent Kara a message.

" _I need your draft for the Superman article."_

It was clear and concise, way colder than their usual texts, but Lena couldn't bring herself to think about what was happening at the moment between her and Kara. Work had to be done and when one of her top journalists didn't send her draft on time, she had to either substitute the article or find another to write it. Clearly, neither was an option before talking with Kara, they may have been fighting as a couple, but at CatCo, their professionalism required of them to behave like adults and Lena was nothing if not professional.

 ***** 3 hours later back at the DEO*****

After the incident with Kara and James, the meeting continued rather well. Everyone had started paying attention to what the others were saying, the legends were keeping the bickering between them to a minimum and Alex and J'onn were listening carefully when Ava was talking, basically explaining the Time Bureau approach of the situation.

"Ugh, my head is going to explode." – Whined Winn after the whole situation was finally explained and the seriousness of it all sank into everyone in the room.

"We need to come up with a plan to stop Darhk from recruiting more people and aliens to his cause, it's already pretty bad, let's not let it become worse. We need to organize ourselves and attack before he reaches his maximum potential." – Said Alex. Ava and Sara nodded their agreement.

"Defeating Mallus will not be easy." – Said Ava.

"True, but you have back up now and maybe we can talk with my cousin and convince him to help us out too." – Suggested Kara.

"Okay, let's split up and do some research then." – Started J'onn, nobody objected to the plan, so he continued assigning tasks. It wasn't publicly voted, but for now he had a good idea of how to handle all this and everyone listened when he spoke.

"Agents Danvers and Scott will accompany Mister Palmer to the labs and help him perfect with shrinking technology; we never know when we'll need it. Miss Sharpe and Miss Lance are free to use the training facilities with our agents, if we're preparing for such battle, we're going to need every resource we have. James and Monel will patrol he city, in case of emergency or another attack Supergirl will help, until then Kara, talk with Superman, maybe he can help us too." – J'onn knew that Kara and James were not in the best of terms now, but he needed to keep National City safe and for now Guardian's presence was important for keeping the peace on the streets.

"Miss Tomaz and Miss Jiwe, you could help us trying to predict Darhk's next target, given your particular circumstance of you two. And since he has his daughter by his side, you might as well join Miss Sharpe and Miss Lance later." – It was true, one was from the future, the other from the past, both knowing perfectly well what was at stake if their plan failed, both willing to do everything in their power to succeed.

Ten out of thirteen had their orders, the only ones left were Nate, Snart and Rory, and J'onn couldn't think of anything in this world they could possibly help right now. Their particular skill sets weren't necessary at the moment, so maybe it was best if they just stayed out of trouble for the time being.

"You gentlemen are free to look around, just don't start any fights or burn down buildings, please." – Said J'onn, yes that was for the best, Mick and Snart never really liked being ordered around.

"Let's go see how different the bars on this earth are." – Grunted Mick and when Snart followed behind him, Nate didn't really had any other option left.

Everyone went their separate ways and began working on the tasks they had been given. Kara went to the balcony of the room and took out her phone to call her cousin, but before she could dial the number, she finally saw a text from Lena, from over two hours ago. Shit, she needed to get to CatCo, quick.

Flying right to Lena's balcony at the CatCo building was one of her favorite things, now she battled the butterflies in her stomach, no they were not the good kind of butterflies, they were the _I'm-in-serious-trouble_ kind of butterflies.

Tapping gently on the window, she waited patiently for Lena to open, she always waited, but when Lena didn't come she pushed the door and entered the office only to find it empty, no Lena in sight, just an ice cold half cup of coffee on the desk and a few black ink 0.5 pens scattered around the bureau. These pens were one of Lena's quirks, she refused to write with anything else but 0.5-tip black ink pen. Lena always said her elegant, italic writing style was so good because of the proper combination of pen tip and quite a few calligraphy lessons as a kid. Since walking out of Lena's empty office would definitely be a bit suspicious, Kara flew back down to the alley near the CatCo and quickly took the elevator to her office.

"Eve, is Lena in? I need her approval of my draft for the article." – Said Kara when she finally made her way to Eve's desk, holding a piece of blank paper that she just snatched from someone's desk, trying to seem cool and confident before asking the question she really wanted to know.

"Hey Kara! Miss Luthor is out, she went to grab some lunch, but said she'd be a while. You can leave it with me though, I'll let her know you came by." – Eve said trying to be helpful.

"It's okay, I still need to check the spelling anyway, I'll just come back later." – Said Kara and Made her way back to the entrance of the building. There was only one place where Lena would go for lunch so she began walking in that direction, to Noonan's, of course.

 *****Almost an hour ago at CatCo*****

"I'm sorry sir, but you need an appointment to see Miss Luthor." – Eve said again because the man in front of her was very persistent.

He was dressed in a black suit that probably costed more than her yearly salary (without taxes and healthcare plan). His brown eyes, sharp features and beardless made Eve very glad to have accepted this hob position, the stranger seemed to be quite egotistical, but he was still good looking. And the brunette dressed in an elegant white suit that stood behind him, looking at Eve as well, seemed like a real life goddess. Black and white, they were the very definition of yin and yang at this moment, each of them had a tinge of darkness to her light and a spark of light to his darkness.

"I'm sure she can make an exception for an old friend." – He said with a smile.

That voice was one Lena could recognize everywhere, it brought a strange feeling of happiness and a drop of worry to her. She knew the person well enough to know that an impromptu meeting with _him_ never meant anything good, but the reason behind their meeting was always serious enough to excuse his lack of a heads-up, so Lena decided to ease up Eve's growing annoyance.

The youngest Luthor got up from her chair and quickly smoothed over her skirt, an old habit she picked up since she started wearing skirts. Wrinkles never looked good on an executive.

"It's okay Eve, I know him. He's a friend." – She said and greeted the new comer with a warm smile.

"About time you came to say hi, you were so quiet lately I thought you had forgotten about me." – He said with a smirk on his face.

"I could forget about you as much as I can forget that my last name is Luthor." – She said and laughed when then men approached and hugged her.

"You look good, Lena." – He said with a playful voice.

"I always do, you know that. However, we're being rude." – Said Lena and gestured to the tall woman standing behind looking quite surprised at the reunion, but she managed to hide her surprise behind a curious smile that made Lena stare for a second longer at her red lips than what was considered polite.

The man noticed that longer moment though and smirked even wider, putting his hand on Lena's back and gently guiding her to the other woman.

"Let's go to lunch and we'll make all the introductions there, does that sound ok?" – He proposed, already knowing that Lena's curiosity was at sky-high levels. That Luthor curiosity was hat got her in trouble 99% of the time they were younger.

Lena seemed to think about it for a moment, considering the offer, but then she just nodded in agreement and turned towards Eve.

"I'm going to lunch Eve, please forward only the important calls to my phone and I might be a while longer so just push back all my meetings for the afternoon." – She said with a smile, the curly woman already worked hard enough, Lena didn't want to seem like an ungrateful bitch (even if a lot of people still considered her that).

"No problem, Miss Luthor." – Said Even and opened her planner looking at what meetings she had to postpone and for when.

With a quick, but composed walk, Lena went to get her purse from her office and joined the two newcomers that were waiting patiently for her, talking quietly. The woman seemed to have a strange accent, but Eve was lost in thought about how deep and lenient the man's voice was.

Lena let the mysterious man take her arm again in a rather comic gesture and when the other woman joined them and she briefly shook hands with Lena, the three of them started walking towards the elevators, ready to leave the building.

Everyone knew the joke that Luthors have minions instead of friends, but this man that showed up today, surprised Eve and all those who were staring at them instead of doing their jobs, because Lena had confirmed that they were indeed friends… _old friends_.

 _TBC…_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter V: Just the Luthor's luck

 _AN: Hi guys! I know, it's been ages since my last update, to be honest I had this story on hold because I just didn't have any inspiration to continue it. However, it seems to have generated enormous interest so I am going to finish it. I guess it won't be longer than 7/8 chapters at most and I'll certainly try and update much sooner. So there are still many things to see. That said, let me address some details about the storyline of this fic. It has (will have) elements from the Batman vs Superman movies, some Justice League hints, the occasional Wonder Woman movie reference and of course very invented Supergirl stories (and a canon reference from time to time but it most certainly won't be in the canon sense)._

 _Important story points_ _:_

 _Lena, Bruce and Lex were all at the same boarding school._

 _Lena knows Bruce is Batman, she doesn't know that Diana is Wonder Woman._

 _Lena (obviously) knows Clark is Superman._

 _Bruce and Lena have very close relationship, but they are both extremely private people so obviously the don't snapchat their dates to let the world know when they see each other. I don't like the idea of Lena not having any friends apart from Kara and her group, so I am not writing it like that._

 _Diana likes Lena, really likes her (that's kind of the point of this whole story), Lena likes Diana too, but she is in a very complex situation with Kara. I am still not very sure myself how this will play out eventually._

 _The Legends are probably going to drive Alex crazy, but worry not, Sam will be there to give her a hand._

 _And Lex Luthor is going to make an appearance (very) soon._

 _As always, thank you for reading this fic and any and all comments and kudos are deeply appreciated. Enjoy!_

"Lena, this is Diana Prince, a recent friend of mine. She works for the Louvre, but she is accompanying an exposition dedicated to the Cinquecento Renaissance period at the Gotham Museum now." – Bruce introduced the woman that had come with him the moment all three of them stepped into the elevator, ready to leave CatCo.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Prince, please tell me more about that exposition of yours. I have always preferred the Baroque, but I like broadening my horizons." – Lena said genuinely intrigued.

"Please, call me Diana, Miss Luthor."

"Alright, Diana. Then please, call me Lena." – She said with a polite smile.

"I will." – Diana said and returned the smile, a few decades in the man's world had taught her a thing or two about interacting with beautiful strangers.

The walk from CatCo to the "Tower" wasn't long and Lena was eager to learn more about the art exposition Diana was curating. The way, Diana was explaining some peculiarities about the time period and the pieces of the exhibition caught Lena's attention, the other woman seemed to know many interesting facts that didn't come written in the art history books.

"This is a very nice place, Lena." – Diana said as she looked slightly around them when they got to the restaurant. They were seated at the table nearest to the huge windows and had all of Nation City beneath them. From here, they could easily admire the beauty of the city, its streets, and traffic; it was the perfect combination of social and private atmosphere all at once.

"It's my favorite restaurant in the city." – Lena added.

There was a reason Lena loved coming to "The Tower" and it wasn't just because they always had an available table for her, whenever she showed, it wasn't because of the marvelous ambient either. Yes, the tables were wider apart than at any other restaurant, the owners pride themselves with offering pleasant yet discreet atmosphere to their clients. But also, Mark and Anthony had become good friends with Lena since they opened their restaurant, the couple had just moved to National City from Louisiana. The couple had no idea who Lena was, for them she was just their regular table for one who left generous tips for the staff, until one day, Mark happened to serve her table and they started chatting, slowly becoming friends.

Mark was the one that had decorated the place, he had chosen an elegant pallet of cold colors, relying mostly on the _mission control N530-5_ grey shade, azure blue, and harlequin green. The place had huge windows framed with drapes from top to bottom that harmoniously complimented the interior and vases of teal calla lilies greeted the guests along with a single white candle on every table. The calla lilies were the only flowers Anthony would consent to since they were the only ones that suited the restaurant's elegant note and wondrously enough they had it all, the callas were graceful, dramatic, and free of scent… perfect for a place where the food was the main attraction.

Just as Mark was the wizard behind the interior design of "The Tower", Anthony was the wonder maker in the kitchen. Most of his recipes were adapted from the original style of his grandmother's cooking, a perfect blend between a traditional base and a modern twist in each plate made the people of National City form queues to eat here.

And this is how Lena found herself sitting on her usual table, eating the most delicious herb-crusted rack of lamb with asparagus risotto and grilled vegetables, with her old friend Bruce Wayne and a breathtaking brunette with a strong accent sitting in front of her.

"So you know her because you went to school together?" – The woman asked with a prominent curiosity.

"Technically, I was in her brother's class, but Lena attended the same boarding school so we hung out a lot." – Bruce admitted.

"I used to beat them in every science competition." – Lena chuckled and remembered how she and Lex often worked together on her projects and how proud he was of her each time she won, always taking her out for some fun the day after the competition.

"Something tells me you are still in the lead when it comes to comparing intelligence, I've read some of your work on quantum entanglement and it's quite revolutionary." – The brunette spoke with a thick accent looking at Lena with a small smile, making the CEO blush a little and accept the compliment. Bruce only arched one eyebrow wondering if Diana ever talked with him with such flirtatious voice and smirked after realizing that Diana was indeed trying to flirt with Lena. Oh well, why not have some fun then, he suspected Lena was single anyway. Unlike Lex, Lena always preferred the company of books and computers, and while it was true that Lena was also a very private person, she was not one to hide in the shadows because of the public opinion.

"Thank you, Miss Prince, there is still a long road ahead, but it's a start." – Lena spoke after taking a small sip of her red wine.

"And here I was thinking that the Louvre was all about art." – Bruce teased the amazon.

"Oh I have hobbies." – She answered him politely and turned her attention back to Lena.

"So, let me get this straight, you work at the most amazing art museum in the world AND read physic journals for fun? I am certainly intrigued, Miss Prince." – Lena said in just an octave lower than her usual voice and a slight smile on her face.

Damn the woman was captivatingly beautiful, there was something strange about her, but Lena couldn't put her finger on what exactly was it.

Just as Diana was about to tell Lena more about herself, Bruce's phone buzzed and he decided that his company wasn't mandatory for the current conversation between the two women since neither of them paid much attention to him anyway.

"Excuse me, ladies, I must take this." – He excused himself and got up, walking towards the exit of the restaurant, leaving both women contently talking with each other.

Two mysteriously taken away dominators, one interdimensional demon, seven friends from a parallel universe, one seriously pissed girlfriend and an interview with her cousin she had yet to present to her boss… Kara's weekend was going from bad to worse with each passing second. Walking with a grumpy expression on her face, the younger Kryptonian didn't even hear her name being called by Eve as she stepped out of the CatCo elevator.

"Kara!" – It was the third time Eve had called for her and finally, the blonde snapped out of her trance.

"Sorry Eve, I have an awful headache and I still have to give Miss Luthor the final draft of the article." – Kara said apologetically and moved to the door of Lena's office, only to find it closed when she tried to open it.

"Hmm what…?" – Kara was confused now.

"Sorry Kara, I tried to tell you, but you didn't hear me. Miss Luthor is not in. She went to lunch with some old friends of hers, between you and me, with that handsome fellow that came to see her I don't think she'll return for the rest of the day." – Eve said with a giggle.

A handsome fellow? An old friend of Lena? Well, she was sure that it wasn't Jack, but Eve's review of the man-made Kara feel a bit uneasy.

"Maybe you could send your draft on her email?" – Eve suggested behind her.

"Yeah, that… I'll do that." – Kara tried speaking coherently.

With nothing else to do at the moment, Kara went back to her desk and tried to keep busy, thinking of her next story, but something kept nagging at her and two full minutes later, she took out her phone and typed a text to Lena.

 _"Hey, I went to give you the transcript and the final draft of the article, but you weren't in your office?"_

Lena had the custom to always answer her texts and calls, even if she was in the middle of a board meeting, she'd at least tell Kara she'd call her later, but this time another whole six minutes passed, six incredibly slow minutes until Lena answered. If it wasn't for their fight before, the blonde wouldn't be sitting in her office overthinking the situation, but they did fight and this time it had affected them worse than before.

" _Yeah, I'm actually having lunch with a couple of friends from out of town. Just email me the draft and start planning your next story, you have **carte blanche** for that one."_

That made Kara's eyebrows scrunch up, she appreciated the liberty, but Lena didn't bother with even saying hello to her. So either Lena was still pissed at her or maybe Kara was just overreacting… and since there was only one way to find out which of these two it was, Kara gathered her things, grabbed a copy of her article and started walking towards the elevator.

After seven months of being with Lena, Kara had gotten to know the brunette and her habits rather well and decided to see if Lena could use the old "emergency in the office" trick when she was meeting boring investors even though it still bugged her that she didn't say anything about not being in the office. Crossing the street just as the lights turned green, Kara was getting nervous and instinctively adjusted the frames of her glasses. Of course, Lena's favorite restaurant had to be on the seventeenth floor of a skyscraper downtown, honestly, with the number of times people had already try to assassinate her, one would think she'd chose something closer to the ground. Then again, she would not be Lena Luthor if she did.

Just as she stepped on the seventeenth floor, ready to open the heavy glass door, just outside the restaurant door, she spotted a tall man talking on his phone. She could hear he was annoyed with the person on the phone, but Kara had decided long ago not to intrude on the privacy of the people around her, it just wasn't polite after all.

The man on the phone, even though extremely annoyed, turned out to be a true gentleman and quickly opened the door for her to enter "The Tower". Kara nodded her gratitude with her head and a small smile and walked in.

Just like Lena, Kara loved coming here, a habit that drilled holes in her pockets, but she knew Lena was worth it. Walking directly to their usual table Kara halted her steps as she saw Lena talking and laughing with someone sitting in front of her with their back facing Kara and judging by the figure, it was definitely a woman. A very attractive woman. But didn't Evie said Lena had gone to lunch with a man? Had she tried to cover for Lena and lied to Kara? However, why? Evie had no idea they were dating anyway… Kara's head was spinning with questions, but her legs were faster and a second later, she found herself stopping next to the table.

"So you just did it?" – Diana asked surprised and Kara registered the familiar prominent accent in the voice, remembering the last time she heard it.

"Of course! I did end up with a fractured left arm, but I never back out of a dare." – Lena said and both laughed at the story the younger Luthor was telling her about.

"Lena?" – At first, Kara felt bad for interrupting like that, but Lena had been so centered in the story that she hadn't even noticed Kara approaching and she was wearing that sunflower dress of hers, not exactly a chameleon's disguise.

"Kara!" – Lena said dazed, but just a heartbeat later Diana joined the confusion.

"Kara?" – The amazon asked puzzled.

"You know each other?" – Lena asked first even though the question was on everyone's mind.

"Yes, I also know her cousin." – Diana said and got up from her chair to hug her old friend not catching the dumbfounded look on her face.

"It's so good to see you again! You've grown!" – Diana said warmly.

"Diana, I… I am so happy to see you!" – Kara talked back with a huge smile on her face.

"How do _you_ know each other?" – Diana was looking quizzically at Lena now.

"Lena's my gir…" – Kara was about to say girlfriend, but Lena quickly interrupted her.

"Friends. We are friends, good friends, best friend… Kara works for CatCo and I own it so… I'm technically her boss as well." – Lena blurted out, a little frustrated at the situation she found herself in. She wasn't embarrassed to recognize Kara as her girlfriend, but she honestly didn't expect the blonde to start calling _her_ that, so she took the already known route.

"Ah, I see journalism runs in the family." – Diana teased the blonde.

"Ladies, I apologize, but I had to take this call." – Bruce walked right into their conversation. Normally, Kara would've detected someone getting close to them, but she was too stunned to pay attention to anything but Lena and Diana.

"Ah… Hello!" – The man said, greeting Kara as he sensed an awkward silence around the table.

"Hello!" – Kara saluted back.

"This is Kara Danvers, one of the brightest reporters in National City. She was just dropping off her final draft of the article I asked her to write." – Lena said as she saw the brown folder in her arms.

"Ah yes, I did. I mean you did say you wanted it by tonight."

"Thank you, Kara, I'll have a look at it when I get back to the office." – Lena said as she took the folder. It was never not strange when Lena and Kara had to maintain the professional façade, but now this feeling was strangely intensified.

"You have some very dedicated people working for you Luthor." – Bruce teased.

"Only the best, Wayne." – Lena smirked and impulsively winked at Kara who chuckled.

"Do you want to join us?" – Lena asked after a moment.

"No thank you, I should get back to the office, I still have some work left to do." – Kara answered knowing that at this point, the invitation was extended more out of courtesy than honest desire really. Lena was acting cold towards her and she didn't want to pretend that one moment they were okay in front of the others and the next they were fighting again when left alone.

"Okay, I'll let you know when I read the draft." – The CEO smiled curtly.

"Kara, let's meet up sometime later this week? I'd love to catch up." – Diana asked and Kara didn't have the heart to tell her no, she was actually glad to see her friend again.

"Definitely. I assume your number is still the same?" – Kara asked.

"Yes, just call me on Thursday." – Diana said and gave her a final hug.

"Will do."

"Miss Danvers, a pleasure to meet you." – Bruce extended his hand to her and shook it gently.

After Kara made her way out of the restaurant, Lena felt her lungs opening again and her heart settled into its normal rhythm.

"So that's Kara Danvers huh? You know there was a Kara Danvers from National City calling my butler nonstop last week. She was very insistent on getting in touch with Batman for an interview." – Bruce said as the image in his mind cleared.

"Let me guess you told her you'd relay the questions and a few days later you emailed her a few short answers." – Lena sighed, already knowing how the story went. Bruce hated giving interviews as Batman, it was due to Kara's insistence that he conceded even a few short answers.

"Should've figured out she was related to Clark, these Kryptonians can be very determined." – Bruce laughed.

"Well, it has its perks, not to mention that they aren't as broody as you. Seriously, Bruce, your Batman voice is just ridiculous." – Lena teased and Diana laughed.

"I'm glad to see that I am not the only one who thinks so." – Diana laughed.

"Hey you love my voice." – He said feigning offense.

"I love you, that's different." – Lena said and giggled and remembered how they used to joke when they were younger.

They had known each other since they were kids, they had practically grown up together in that boarding school and when Lex wasn't around, Bruce always looked after her and teased her just like her brother did. Lena knew what had happened to the Wayne family and when Bruce made the decision to become Batman it drove an edge between him and Lex, but it never affected his relationship with Lena. Just the opposite in fact, before coming to National City, Lena had stayed for a few months in Gotham, just enjoying the company of her best friend.

Lena's phone vibrated on the table and she saw a message from the Publishing department informing her about a problem with the layout.

"Ah, I was beginning to worry that I'd get to eat my lunch uninterrupted." – Lena said sarcastically.

"I am sorry, but a problem CatCo seems to need my attention." – The youngest Luthor got up from her chair.

"Let's grab dinner tonight?" – Bruce asked promptly.

"Tonight?" – Lena asked. Tonight was supposed to be spent with Kara, they still had to talk, tonight was going to be complicated, but she has waited seven months for the blonde to recognize her as her girlfriend, she thought Kara could wait another night to say once again how sorry she was.

"You're free right? Come on, just once in your life, get out of the office at seven, like normal people and we can even go grab something to drink before dinner." – Bruce said practically begging.

"Yeah, ok." – Lena gave in and smiled politely.

"Diana, I am glad we met. I hope tonight you'll be joining us as well?" – Lena asked Diana who was looking at her intrigued.

"It would be my pleasure Lena." – Diana said and shook Lena's extended hand. The handshake was like a second nature to the Luthor, she was so accustomed to being her business persona that in the rare occasions she met with friends the habits still slipped from time to time.

"Great I'll see you tonight then." – Lena said and felt a blush creeping up her neck and cheeks as she walked away from the table. It felt pretty good to have her oldest friend around and Diana seemed very nice as well, Lena wouldn't say no to one more possible friend.

Crossing the restaurant, Lena nodded her head to Mark to let him know to charge the bill on her credit card and the man nodded back, smiling in a silent farewell.

 _TBC…_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter VI: Praise the manatee

AN: Hi guys! A few quick notes before you proceed with reading the chapter. Some of you might have felt criticized about not being out to your friends or family, or maybe even felt offended by it. That was my bad, I completely forgot to say that this was never the intention of this fic. Everyone must come out when and if they feel sure and secure and to the people only YOU want to, you guys don't owe an explanation to anyone. This fiction was only intended to show how people often see Kara as Supergirl, as the perfect superhero when in fact she has the same insecurities and fears like the rest of the humans. I don't see that as something negative, but in the case of this fiction, and let's face it, it's never a nice feeling to sneak around and feel ashamed of your relationship with someone after 7 months of dating them and who claims they love you. So again, I am sorry if I have offended any of you, it was completely unintentional. That said… there's some SUPERCORP ANGST ahead and some WONDERCORP(?) FLUFF keep that in mind. There are still plenty of chapters ahead of us, so don't jump to conclusions about the endgame, we'll see how the story shapes itself and decide how it will end when the time comes. Thank you and I hope you enjoy reading it!

AN1: Aeginaea is another name of Artemis.

The clock on Evie's wrist was ticking loudly, it was already 17:00 on a Friday and most of the CatCo staff had left for the weekend, just the production wing was still open and buzzing with numerous employees running around like headless chickens.

"Oh God, she's going to kill us." – One of the interns kept muttering under his nose and quickly scurried away from the room.

The printing machines were supposed to be printing all the copies for the Monday issue of the magazine, but instead, the room was dead silent. The usual clangor of rubber exposing tube of the rotary screen-printing machines was missing and the occasional hiss of the remote inking system was absent as well.

A pair of stiletto heels, following a strict _Allegro moderato_ tempo, were advancing towards the Production department and Evie made her way to the door, ready to greet her boss again.

"Evie, what is going on? Why aren't we printing the magazines? I was assured the templates were received on time." – Lena asked, wondering how they were going to make up for this delay.

The new issue of the magazine was supposed to hit the market on Monday, but with production being delayed, they'd have to work overtime to make it.

"There was a problem with the paper Miss Luthor. Our usual supplier should've delivered it last week, but for some reason, it's still not here. For this autumn issue, we agreed to use 70-lb coated paper, with 100-lb. gade 5, C2S "cover stock" for the front and back covers. However, we only have 50-lb rolled noncoated and recycled paper." – Evie explained.

"And why didn't you take this up with Mr. Olsen? He is the one that's in charge of these matters." – Lena asked, unable to keep the disappoint that leaked in her voice.

"The moment I realized that we had a problem I went to his office to speak with him and he said he'd take care of it, but it's already been two hours and he still hasn't provided us with a solution. I wasn't sure if you'd want to delay the new issue or just run with the partial production quota. So, I called you." – Evie explained nervously and Lena narrowed her eyes.

"You did well." – Lena nodded slowly.

"Okay let's see… We can't run this issue with a reduced quota if I'm not mistaken our subscriptions over the last month have almost doubled in size, so that's not an option." – Lena thought aloud. People seemed even more interested in the magazine now that L-Corp had bought it. Many were curious to see where it was going since the number of investigative pieces increased considerably.

"We need to send out the copies on Sunday at most if we want them to be delivered throughout the district on Monday…" – The CEO said and her mind ran the possibilities that would help them.

"Evie, what if… what if, we used the C2S for the front cover only, print the inside content on recycled paper, we'll include an additional page of an environmental interview and dedicate it to whatever animal is in extinction? We'll change the UV coating for a varnished one this issue and reduce the cost of printing so that the additional page won't exceed the budget for the month. In addition, we'll pledge 20% of the profit of this eco-friendly issue to let's say the… 4Oceans nonprofit." – Lena spoke and even though it seemed like she asked for Evie's opinion, the young blonde knew better than to say anything to this rhetoric speech and only scribbled down in her black leather journal.

"And one more thing, I need you to email me the supply orders logs for the last six months. Thank you." – Lena said offhandedly and was already making her way to James' office.

It wasn't until Lena reached his door that James had the common sense to hang up his personal phone, putting it on his desk. When Lena stepped into his office she quickly cleared her throat, shaking her head as elegantly as she could because of the strong smell that invaded her nose. The man seemed to have bathed in perfume rather than water, his whole office stacked of some sharp scented cologne that made Lena desperately trying not to gag in front of him.

"Lena, I wasn't aware we had a meeting today." – He said a little bit annoyed, not paying attention to the angry spark in her green eyes. Usually, they'd meet every second Friday to talk about the personnel, the upcoming issue, and the monthly budget.

"I am not necessarily pleased by this disastrous turns of events either Mr. Oslen." – Lena said and stepped closer to his desk.

"I was informed about a problem with our supplies…" – She began, but James interrupted her.

"Yes, yes. I took care of it, Billy will deliver the paper tomorrow." – He said, almost as if he was proud of himself.

"Tomorrow? You know perfectly well that the magazine needs 48h to print the hard copy issues, and an additional 12h to distribute them around the vending booths. If the paper comes on a Saturday, we'd need to make the production department work in two shifts and double their pay. That will cost the company many additional expenses. Or we push back the publish date with a couple of days in which every other magazine that tries to compete with us will have made 60% more profit than us. This second variant is equally impairing to the magazine as the first one." – Lena spoke again, keeping her voice leveled.

"It's not like I could've predicted this! I can't see the future!" – James elevated his voice, almost on the verge of shouting, but not quite there yet.

"Apparently you can't read reports as well. If you could, or if you had at least bothered to look at them, you'd see that this particular supplier that you have named the main one for the company, has had a very unprofessional attitude towards us. In the last six months alone, he's completely missed his delivery dates two times, came later than accorded on four other occasions and supplied less paper or one of lesser quality at least seven times. Why, if I may know, have you not changed the supplier already?" – Lena asked with a steady voice.

"Billy is a nice guy, he is a bit chaotic in his schedule, but he always delivers." – James argued back.

"Until now… Look, Mr. Olsen, I don't know, nor do I care about what possible relationship you might have with this Billy individual, but his choices cost CatCo money, a lot of money and I did not buy this business just to see it bankrupt. You have chosen this supplier, therefore it is your responsibility to keep track of him to make sure his actions don't prejudice the magazine… so far I'm not impressed with the work you've been doing Mr. Olsen. Not impressed at all." – Lena spoke, trying her best not to grit her teeth and show her inner displeasure.

"Fine, I'll see who else can make the delivery. But Billy is a good guy, he needs this job." – James repeated miffed.

"I have many charity organizations, , this is not one of them. I don't know if you've noticed, but this is a magazine, a business that moves with money and careful planning, not on good words. I am a businesswoman and CatCo is part of my business, I will not let it suffer the poor choices of some of the staff." – Lena spoke.

"And don't waste time, I already checked with Mrs. Tessmacher, other suppliers would need at least two days to manage it. We don't have two days." – Lena said.

"What do you want me to do then?!" – He asked clearly angrier than before. It irked him, even more, to see Lena this calm when he was already fuming inside.

"I want you to do your job right! This is your last warning Mr. Olsen, there won't be another." – Lena said decisively and a tense silence fell upon them.

"I have taken care of the production problem, I just need you to get in touch with the CEO of 4Oceans and get an interview from them. I want you to write about their organizations, their agenda, how they work and a few curious facts about this month's animal. I want the exclusive, ready on my desk and a copy sent to editorial in no later than two hours. And… if you value your current position here, I suggest you make this article a stellar one." – Lena said and turned to leave his office.

"Alright, fine! What's his contact information?" – James asked and Lena halted in her steps, just one reach of her hand shy from getting out of his office.

The CEO slowly turned to face James again and he could swear he saw her bright emerald eyes flash with animosity and indignation.

"Oh I'm sorry Mr. Olsen. I don't know this information, but I'll make sure to check it just before I bring you your coffee order. Would you like me to pick up your dry-cleaning as well?" - Lena asked as sarcasm and sizzling rage laced her voice. She rarely let her shield down so that her emotions were showing in the workplace, but something about James' last comment made her jaw tighten reflexively, a habit she had developed when trying to keep her mouth shut whenever Lilian was yelling her about one thing or another.

Seriously, the audacity that man has! In what universe an employee can talk to his boss like that? If it wasn't for Kara's insistence, she would've terminated James' contract with CatCo long ago. But, she had promised her girlfriend to give him a chance and even though she was starting to regret it, she did the right thing.

Speaking of Kara, Lena remembered how she had promised to meet her later in her apartment for their talk. After the day she had, talking was the last thing Lena wanted to do, especially when she knew that it wouldn't be the pleasant kind of talking.

Ah, but she had also agreed to drinks and dinner with Bruce and Diana. Shoot.

It was already nearing seven when Lena was making her way back to her penthouse. Thankfully, the paper crisis was averted, James managed to write a decent article with special facts about the manatees and everything seemed to be back on track.

Stepping into her apartment, Lena headed directly to the shower. Desperate to feel the hot water wash away the remains of her day, lately she was spending all of her time in CatCo and her mind yearned for the busy L-Corp days.

Thirty minutes later, just as the younger Luthor was already dressed once more and finishing putting on a fresh layer of deep red lipstick, the doorbell rang. Lena hurried to open the door while trying to put on her left earing as well.

"Hi, I heard what happened this afternoon, I'm sorry I wasn't there, but the DEO had some plans they wanted to discuss with me." - Kara blurred in her usual manner as Lena let her pass inside.

"Oh, you haven't changed yet? If you want, I can order us some pizza while you do?" -The younger Danvers said with a shy smile, trying not to pay attention to Lena's obvious hands twisting. Usually, the first thing the CEO did when she got home was to change into something much more comfortable, take off her make up and put on whatever show she had on hold on Netflix.

"Actually Kara, I wanted to talk to you about something." - Lena said with a voice that Kara learned never meant anything good.

"Well, that's why I'm here, so we can talk and stop acting so strange around one another. I must admit I have some questions about today, but I get it, we were in public and I did interrupt your business lunch date." Kara hurried to say.

"That's the thing, Kara! I didn't care that we were in public and it was certainly not a business lunch, as we both know." – With a heavy breath, Lena braced herself for what she was about to say, knowing that it wasn't the best time for this discussion, but she just had to say what was on her mind or it would have driven her crazy.

"Look, before Thanksgiving… I would've swooned the moment you admitted I was your girlfriend, but then everything happened and now I'm just tired of not knowing how to act with and around you. I know we had to talk tonight and get everything clear, but to be honest, I really don't want to hear again how you wanted to tell your family, but you ended up not doing it." – Lena sounded upset and Kara felt hot tears threatening to spill from her eyes, but she refused to let them, for now. Lena hated seeing Kara hurt, she had promised herself to never upset Kara, but this time it seemed impossible to keep her promise and so she tried to lower her voice once more and not sound like her boss.

"I'm starting to feel like I'm pushing you to come out, to make something you don't wish to do and it makes me feel awful because I love you too damn much to pressure you like that. I tried being supportive and accepting everything you were hesitant about, but our sneaking around is making me feel less important to you like we're doing something wrong and I just... I never wanted to complicate things so much, Kara." - Lena's voice sounded broken and tears gathered in her eyes as well.

"I messed up Lena! I know that. It's not that I don't want to come out of the closet, truth be told Alex already knew it and after Thanksgiving, she smacked me on the head for everything that happened, but she was... is very much okay with us. And I know Eliza wouldn't mind... I guess I am not as brave as I thought." - Kara admitted and mirrored Lena's glassy gaze and the room fell silent. Lena's silence spoke much more than anything she had said until now.

"Look, Kara, perhaps... perhaps we should give each other some time? A week or two to figure out what exactly we want and... if it's worth the fight?" - Lena suggested sad, but resolute in her stance.

"Wait, wait... are you... are you saying it's over? We are over?" - Kara could barely speak now, her throat ached as if she had eaten shattered glass earlier.

"Not over. Just... on pause to... take time and think about some things." - Lena tried to elaborate.

"But I don't need time to know how I feel." - Kara mumbled and a tear escaped her eyes. She had already let the truth slip in the DEO, had she finally had the bravery to speak her truth only for Lena to tell her that it was too late?

"But I do, Kara. You had seven months to think and you only acted. I on the other hand just acted during those seven months, I acted on synergy and now I need some time to think. I believe it will do us both some good." - Lena said and tears cascaded down her cheeks as well.

It was an uncomfortable moment for them, not really sure what to say or how to act, Lena and Kara sat across each other on the couch that had witnessed countless playful kisses and full-blown make-out sessions.

"I love you." – Kara broke the silence with a raspy voice and now the trails of fresh tears were visible on her cheeks, making Lena's spill as well.

"I know." – Lena said as she moved closer to Kara and gently brushed away her teardrops.

Kara put her hands on Lena's hips, she wanted desperately to pull the shorter woman closer to her, feel her body mold into hers and kiss her, kiss her with all the love and devotion she was feeling. She wanted to feel Lena pull her closer to her, moaning softly in their kiss and letting Kara walk them slowly to her bedroom, as she used to… But, instead, neither made a move, neither dared to break the moment and only labored breathing filled the air between them.

"Don't give up on me… on us, please." – Kara pleaded with her eyes closed. It hurt too much to see each other crying.

"I am not. I just need some time." – Lena promised.

"Can I kiss you, just one kiss?" – The Kryptonian pleaded, not caring how desperate her words could sound.

Kissing Kara Danvers was like taking a gulp of fresh air in a sunny day, it was relaxing and it made her feel all tingly and good, Kara's lips tasted like cotton candy, her tongue softly begged for entrance and Lena was happy to oblige. Kara Danvers was (mostly) gentle and serene, but in the same time she was also passionate and raw, somehow she had found the perfect balance. However now, their kiss didn't taste sweet of happiness and hope, it was salty and desperate.

When the need for oxygen became too great, they parted their lips and left their foreheads lean on each other and a few seconds later, Kara spoke again.

"I should go. The DEO needs me to supervise some of the agents." – Kara blurred and even though Lena could recognize a lie from miles away, she let it slide and nodded her head.

"Okay. I'll … see you on Monday I guess." – Lena said awkwardly.

"Yeah. Yes. Monday." – Kara repeated stiffly and felt her stomach twist as her words left her mouth.

"Goodbye, Lena." – Kara said as she turned to the elevator door of Lena's penthouse.

"Kara…" – Lena said, catching her attention once again.

"Be careful." – The brunette said, knowing how careless the Kryptonian could be at times.

Kara's throat had closed up completely and only some limited amount of air managed to get through to her lungs, there was no way she could open her mouth to speak, so she did the next best thing, Kara nodded with her head and entered the elevator leaving Lena alone in her apartment.

It was a good thing Lena's make up was waterproof because, with all the tears that spilled from her eyes, she would've needed to take it off and start all over again. A couple of moments later, Lena took a deep breath and walked to the mirror in her corridor, retouching quickly her mascara, she gathered all the feelings parting with Kara had stirred in her and put them away in a box, shoving said box far back in her mind. She was a Luthor after all.

Lena's phone vibrated and the screen illuminated showing a text message from Bruce.

 _We are getting ready to leave. Meet you here in 15._ – There was also a location sent with the message and Lena saw it was the new bar that had opened downtown, not more than a month ago.

 _Me too. See you there!_ – Lena quickly typed back and called her driver. She didn't usually use his services on a Friday night, but now was a special occasion.

Sparing one last look in the mirror, Lena was satisfied with the result and made her way to the elevator, going down to meet her driver. Turned out that going out with Bruce and Diana was a much better plan than staying alone in her penthouse, drinking some insanely expensive whiskey and watching heist movies, moping and second-guessing her decision.

She had opted to wear a navy blue Versace with black Manolo Blahnik heels and of course a simple, but elegant Prada purse to finish her look. Lena Luthor was perfection personified and whatever tremendous heartbreak she was feeling inside, the world would only see her perfect look and sharp features.

Bruce and Diana were waiting for Lena just outside the doors of the bar and when her car approached, Bruce walked quickly up to her door, opening it and extending his hand to let Lena gracefully get out of the black Rolls Royce.

"You look amazing Lena." – He whispered in her ear and she chuckled.

"He is right, you look stunning." – Diana said with a playful smile, looking at Lena's dress, up and down with an appreciating look, making the CEO blush.

"Versace always impresses." – Lena said offhandedly.

"I'm not sure Versace can take the credit here." – Diana said with a smile, this time making Bruce chuckle, this woman seemed to have a smoother game than he did.

An annoying ringing sound came from Bruce's phone and he quickly took it out from his pocket.

"Ahh… excuse me ladies, but I need to take this. Go in and order some drinks, I'll join you in a second." – He said.

He and Diana still had to talk to Lena about her brother's latest plot for revenge, but Alfred was calling him again and that could only mean one thing. Superman was meddling in Gotham city's business again.

"… We need you to come back for a couple of days. Superman is getting dangerously close to our base." – Alfred said seriously and Bruce exhaled loudly. He knew that if it was something minor, Alfred wouldn't have called him, so he didn't really have any choice.

"Okay, I'll take the jet back tonight." – Bruce said and hung up.

Walking through the door of the bar, Bruce needed a second to see where Lena and Diana were, but it wasn't difficult to spot the most beautiful women in the room. Lena seemed enthralled with a story Diana was telling her and unconsciously she had moved much closer to her.

By the time Bruce reached their table, both women were laughing and now Bruce didn't feel that bad about leaving, he was actually quite content to see his oldest friend having a good time. Lena definitely needed it, especially with the information they had to tell her about her brother, but that could wait a couple of days.

"Ladies, I am extremely sorry to do this, but I must return to Gotham for a couple of days." – Bruce said as he sat on Lena's right side.

"What? Why? You just came." – Lena said confused.

"I'm sorry Lena, there's been a … a situation that requires my attention. However, it shouldn't take more than two days so Diana wouldn't need to come back either. Besides, it's the weekend and you're both free." – He added trying to sound nonchalant.

"Bruce, don't you dare…" – Lena's voice was serious but the teasing tone in it didn't go by unnoticed. It was clear he was living out some weird matchmaking fantasy of his, but with all the problems she had with Kara, spending time with this amazing brunette in front of her, wasn't the best option for Lena.

"You already have the hotel reserved." – Bruce said to Diana who was watching the pair quietly. Not wanting to intrude on Lena's time with her presence, she preferred to keep quiet.

"I'd be happy to show you around the city if you'd like?" – Lena blurred out before she could think better of it. Though truth be told, she couldn't bring herself to regret her invitation.

"If you're sure it wouldn't be much of a bother." – Diana accepted with a gracious smile.

"My plans for the weekend fell through so, it would actually do me some good as well." – Lena assured her.

"Great, then." – Bruce clapped his hands bringing the attention back to him.

"Have a safe flight." – Lena winked at him. It was a well guarded secret about Bruce, he hated flying, ever since Lex and he almost crashed the plane they had while her brother was getting his pilot's license.

"Have fun you two!" – He said and walked away from them.

"So, tell me more about that island of yours, it sounds amazing…" – Lena said dreamily.

"Themiscyra is the most beautiful place on earth, each year, on the day of the Summer Solstice we celebrate the day of the goddess Aeginaea. We spend the day dancing and singing and playing hunting games and then at night we go to the beach and swim in the sea, it's customary to jump over 7 waves for good luck…" – Diana was speaking with such passion and ardor that Lena clang to every word that left her lips, already imagining everything the other woman was describing her.

 _TBC…_


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Hi guys! I finally managed to write an update to this, just a heads up though, it turned out to be a LOT longer and more complicated than I expected, so I'm going to post it in two or three parts (depends). We'll see how team Legends deal with everything and some chaos is insured, but this update will be mostly Lena/Diana related. And the * is for the duration of the Trojan war, according to Homer's Iliad at least. The parts in italic are mostly text messages or internal thoughts of the characters.

AN1: In this fiction, there are a lot of prejudice based opinions and subjective thoughts, it's not in any way an accurate reflection of how I see things, but it does serve the fictional story, so keep that in mind. I hope you enjoy reading it and I am really grateful for all the kudos and the comments, your support is extremely important to us fanfic writers, so thank you!

Chapter VII: **Devil to pay, Devil and the deep blue sea** – Part I

Opposite to most people, Lena Luthor loved early mornings, the perk of having zero to none social life meant she didn't have any problems wondering if the documents she was reviewing cared about her choice of pajamas for the night. Sure, there would be the occasional going out with Bruce or Jack when she was younger, even Jess and Sam were a great company to hang out with, but on most of the nights, Lena had a memorized routine. Leave the office by 10 pm, a nice hot shower or sometimes even a bath if she was feeling too stressed, some dinner that consisted of some leafy greens and maybe chips or a piece of meat accompanied with a soft red wine, and then it was time for doing some more work before bed.

However, returning to the topic at hand, Lena was always weird this way. She was the only person in the world (probably still is) to love the Mondays and early mornings, but she could just do so much with the 24 hours of the day and she was eager no to waste a second of them.

Normally, Lena couldn't even look at food for the first three or four hours after she had woken up, so she had plenty of time to choose what to wear and head to the office before her employees showed up, unless Jess, Jess always made sure she was there before her boss and Lena insisted she head home every day no later than 5 pm.

This morning, however, Lena wasn't feeling all that ready for the day. A feeling of guilt and sadness began creeping up her body, she missed Kara, she missed waking up to a mess of blonde hair by her side, part of her was telling her that she had been too quick to pause their relationship. But, in a few moments, when the sleepy fog dimming her brain cleared, her rational mind kicked in and she shook her head, knowing that she had made the right call after all. Some time apart will be good for them.

However, the Luthor didn't have much time to dwell on her musings because her phone vibrated two quick times on the bedside table near her.

 _Good morning Lena, I hope you've had a good night's rest._ \- The initials in the right corner of the screen read D.P, making Lena smile and type a quick response.

 _Morning! I managed to get a solid 7 hours of sleep, that hadn't happened in a long while._ – Lena typed quickly.

Three little dots appeared on the screen and just a couple of seconds later, another message showed up.

 _I am certainly happy to know you've had a good rest, how do you feel about coffee in 30 min?_

Coffee? And in 30 min?! Lena looked at herself and for a second she considered barging for at least an hour, she was still lying in bed! She would have to think about what to wear and put on some makeup, those darkening circles under her eyes weren't very flattering to her look. Then again, she was going to just put her hair in a ponytail and quickly put on some concealer, so why not?

 _Sounds great! Where would you like to meet?_ \- Lena finally typed back.

 _The park with the Impressionism exposition?_ \- Diana's text vibrated a moment later with a short answer:

 _Okay, but I get to chose where we go for breakfast :)_

 _We have a deal, Miss Luthor :)_

Lena found herself giggling at the message and for a split second it reminded her of Kara and how sweet she was at the beginning, fortunately the youngest Luthor quickly got up from her bed and began busying her mind with preparing for the day.

And here she was now, exactly 30 minutes later, strolling confidently through a park in the East side of the city. The weather was pleasant enough not to demand any heavy clothes, but the chill of winter colored Lena's cheeks red, or at least that's what she told herself on the way to meeting Diana.  
Diana, on the other hand, was already waiting for Lena exactly where she said she'd be, right beside the first Renoir painting. The moment she saw the CEO moving closer towards her, a warm smile spread on her face, her chocolate colored eyes seemed sparkled with excitement.

Exquisite, elegant, refined, sublime, Diana's mind raced with thought as she finally found the world she was desperately looking for to describe how Lena was looking today... recherché. Yes, that was the one...

Lena Luthor took the final steps to where Diana was standing and the foreigner had to remind herself how to breathe. The vision in front of her could easily leave her stunned and speechless, only capable of smiling brightly.

Lena was wearing a royal blue Valentino shirt, with all the buttons buttoned, black Versace pants that accentuated her butt, but had bell-shaped lower endings, a black Prada trench coat and of course a matching royal-blue Prada handbag and shoes.

"You look more stunning than Aphrodite herself." - Diana spoke lightly, looking Lena from top to bottom and roaming just a little bit longer on her face.

"Thank you, let's hope she didn't hear you though. If I'm not mistaken, last time someone defied her beauty, a ten-years war* broke out." - Lena said and they both giggled.

She was more than glad to have earned this compliment from Diana, but truth be told, Lena found the other woman stunningly beautiful as well, downright breathtaking.  
Diana was dressed in a black three-piece suit that hugged her figure and a gorgeous blood red tunic covered her shoulders, although it could have easily been mistaken for a long shawl as well.  
Both had opted for a ponytail, but Lena's was impeccable, where Diana's was more loosened and even though Lena was wearing high heels, the Luthor still found herself just a couple of inches shorter than the other woman.

"I'm certainly hoping the first snow doesn't catch us unprepared today." - Lena said, trying to make some kind of small talk before she could say something incredibly nerdy again, though she couldn't know at that moment how much Diana appreciated her nerdy side.

"The weather channel said that was supposed to happen tomorrow. I'm guessing today is something like the eye of the storm because not even a leaf can be seen shaking from the breeze and given how National City is a coastal town, there should always be wind or at least a breeze." - Diana elaborated.

"Nicely observed Miss Prince. Ready to go get some breakfast?" - Lena asked as she smiled excitedly. The prospect of tasty food, good coffee, and pleasant company sounded very appealing in what was probably the last day before it got freezingly cold again.

"I know of this amazingly looking cafe a block from here, I don't know if you've been there, the place is very colorful and inside smells of freshly baked bread and croissants." - Lena spoke and she could feel her mouth watering with just the memory of the pleasant aroma.

"Mmm, it sounds amazing. Lead the way then." – Diana said smiling.

Not even ten minutes later, Lena and Diana found themselves crossing the street to where the cafe in question was and entering the building.  
It looked rather busy and nobody seemed to pay attention to them, something that both of them silently thanked for, each for her own reasons. Finding a table proved to be a bit challenging, but thankfully, one just freed as they stepped through the salon.

"Oh God, everything looks delicious, I am going to have to build a gym at my home instead of a lab." - Lena joked, she wouldn't say she didn't like her body, not at all, she knew she had curves and when she was little other kids would sometimes bother her for it, but with age came wisdom and now she was pretty comfortable in her skin. She continued going to the gym whenever possible though, mostly it served her as a place where she could let her mind wander for a while and not feel unproductive.

"You could eat the whole bakery and you're still going to look breathtakingly beautiful, but I wouldn't say I'm not curious to see you in gym clothes." - Diana winked at her and suddenly and even though it made Lena laugh, an intense and sudden feeling of guilt flooded her but with the way Diana was looking at her, she managed to brush it aside. Enough thinking about Kara, the whole purpose of today was to give her mind a little rest from that whole mess.

Lena smiled widely and went to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, only to remember that she was wearing it in a ponytail today. Many had commented on her beauty over the years, but very few did it as sweetly as Diana did, she made her feel special each time she looked at her with that warm smile.

"Everything smells delicious, I honestly have no idea what to get." – Diana admitted and brought Lena's mind back to the current moment. The soft smell of sugar and butter engulfed them once more when they moved past the huge display glass behind which numerous kinds of baked sweets sat, looking yummy and tempting them to taste them.

"Maybe I can help with that. I've been coming here since I moved to National City, so I have basically tried everything here." – Lena chuckled.

"Great, surprise me then, Miss Luthor." – Diana winked playfully at her and pulled Lena towards their table, and then she quickly moved behind her chair and pulled in back so that the younger woman could sit.

Ten minutes later and now, their table was filled with heavenly food and of course a cappuccino for Lena and an orange juice for Diana. A slice of deliciously-baked strawberry covered crostata on a base of lime and champagne cream, a pair of sweet chocolate and vanilla eclairs covered with thinly sliced green and yellow kiwis, a few small but mouthwatering tartlets with custard topped with fresh papaya, mango and pineapple. A soothing scent of caramel was coming from one of the plates on their table as well combined with a rich banana taste, the Swiss roll that was in front of Diana had combined those two main ingredients in a savory comfort for the hungry stomachs. And of course, Lena's personal favorites, a pair of golden, just-out-of-the-oven croissants, each filled with ecologically made either peach or red fruits jam.

Their breakfast was filled with animated conversations over one topic or another, ranging from childhood stories to Lena's latest research on entangled polarizations of photons and the implications of their use in both realism and locality theories and appliances. Well, to be honest, Lena was doing most of the talking here, Diana was still thinking through the Bell inequalities, but she loved how Lena's eyes widened and her voice slightly upped an octave when the younger Luthor was telling her about her latest research.

"Mmm" – Diana ate slowly and let a small, involuntary and barely noticeable (to anyone BUT Lena who sensed the faint hotness of a blush making its way from her neck to her cheeks) moan escape her lips each time she tried something new. She loved the food here, the textures and the tastes left her yearning for more even when she had eaten more than enough.

"These are all very good. Thank you for introducing me to this amazing world of sugary confections." – Diana said, making Lena chuckle.

"You are very much welcome Miss Prince. We have a big day ahead so it was only fitting to have a good breakfast." – Lena said back contently.

Almost an hour and a half later, Diana excused herself to go to the bathroom before they leave and quietly paid their check, even though it was more of a symbolic gesture, Lena was glad the other woman had done it without even bothering to tell her that she was going to pay.

"So, where are we going now?" – Diana asked excitedly as the pair exited the bakery.

"You'll have to wait and see, it's not very far away though, so let's see if you can guess it until we get there." – Lena answered her and Diana had no problem whatsoever in leaving their destination unknown for now.

 _*15 minutes later*_

"So um... I'm not that sure about our next stop but I figured you'll enjoy it. I mean it can be a bit childish I suppose, but I think the experience is very pleasant. But we can also go for a coffee or something else if you don't wanna do it..." - Lena was blabbering, suddenly nervous, overthinking her choice to bring Diana here.  
The pair was standing in front of a huge building, colored in red, black and violet overlapping patterns and carrying a bold sign that proudly read _National City Planetarium_.

"Lena. Hey, stop fidgeting. I love it! I've never been to one of those. I always wanted to though, but I guess work was always a priority." - Diana said with a smile, but her eyes clouded with hurt for some reason, hurt that disappeared as quickly and as suddenly as it came.

"You've never been to a Planetarium before?" - Lena asked surprised, but then quickly reminded herself that she didn't learn how to swim until a couple of years ago for the exact same reason Diana had stated.

"When I was little, my mother and my aunt used to take me stargazing on the beach almost every night. The sand was still hot because the sun had been high in the skies all day, but it didn't burn our feet anymore. My aunt knew the constellations and showed them to me while my mom explained us their stories." - Diana chuckled at the memory, fondly remembering her family, reminding herself that they all lived in her heart.

"I remember lying between the two of them, in the safest place on Earth, between the two people that loved me most and it wasn't uncommon for a shooting star or two to pass above us. The sea breeze was salty enough to make our skin sticky, but it was also cool enough to keep us comfortable. And the moon... it was so big and bright, the brightest I've ever seen." - Diana continued and softly bit her bottom lip recalling the sensations of the moment, making her shiver unexpectedly at the vivid memories.

"That sounds magical." - Lena said in a low wishful voice.

"It was. I still I can't wait to see what's it like in there though." - Diana said excitedly and tugged at Lena's arm.

"Nothing quite so spectacular I'm afraid, but I hope you'll still like it." - She said and allowed herself to be led up the stairs of the building.

Once the pair entered through the massive window doors, a woman in her late forties dressed in white and navy blue uniform came to greet them.

"Ms. Luthor! It's a pleasure to see you here again. Please follow me, the projection is set already." - The woman said.

"Thank you, Irene, I appreciate the effort." - Lena answered curtly.

"Oh nonsense dear, you know we're always happy to see you stop by and enjoy our work, we do owe you our jobs after all." - Irene spoke again, in lower voice this time and with a warm smile.

"You own the Planetarium?" - Diana asked slightly amazed.

"No... not really. I just donate frequently to the development of the new projections and the renewal of the building so that the entrance fee for the residents of National City is symbolic and free for everyone under 30." - Lena elaborated in a hushed voice, trying not to blush at the look Diana was giving her. Diana was looking at her with something she had almost forgotten, she was looking at her with admiration, the same kind of look that Kara had last directed at her many months ago. Admiration born out of sheer respect and not imposed superiority like her name usually evoked.

"And I'm certainly not complaining, but why is there no one here but us?" - The taller woman asked as she looked around the space.

"The Planetarium is usually closed at 3 pm during the weekends unless it's a holiday or vacations period." - Irene rushed to explain.

"But we know how much Ms. Luthor enjoys coming here, so it was really no bother for us to remain open for a private visit today." - She added with a smile and both women nodded gratefully.

The trio was making their way through the main room, using the hallways to the furthest room of the building. Around them maps of the stars and constellations littered the walls of the Planetarium, charts of planets and comets hung everywhere and there was even a special wall with crayon drawings from the youngest visitors. Solar system replicas were also frequently found around the different hallways and part of the main hall was even dedicated to NASA's history.

"Ms. Luthor, the projection will start in three minutes, you are welcome to sit wherever you choose. We hope you enjoy your experience!" - Irene said as she escorted them to a door that led to a room with some 50 completely empty seats inside.

Some of the seats were paired in pairs, some were singles and some were in three's, but the maximum was only one set of four seats next to each other.

"Why are the seats positioned like that?" - Diana didn't wait for even a second to ask, her bubbling curiosity peaking out.

"It's best for the experience. If we put many people closer to each other the effect of the universe will be distorted. The whole point of this thing is not only to learn something new about the stars and the cosmos, but also to enjoy yourself and relax. The seats have a special ergonomic design, here, let's sit down and you'll see." - Lena spoke and tugged Diana to the center of the room where a pair of seats stood equally isolated from the rest.

Just as Diana felt herself relaxing in the chair, the back started going descending slowly backward and the brunette jumped up thinking she had broken it.

"It's okay, I promise you won't fall." - Lena said chuckling next to her as she positioned herself on the chair as well, but she knew that the seats reclined so she just relaxed and Diana followed her example.

"So that's one of the best things about these seats, it lets you get comfortable enough to watch a 30 minute projection without straining your neck." - Lena said.  
And true to her word, after thirty minutes of wonderful space images and videos, Lena and Diana walked out of the planetarium feeling great and talking about the facts the projection supplied them with, both nurturing their love for the stars from two different perspectives.

 _*Ring* *Ring*_

Lena's phone rang out of nowhere, effectively silencing both women and for a second Lena debated wheatear or not to pick it up, but Evie's name on her screen made her give Diana an apologetic look and her finger slid to the right, taking the call.

"Eve?" – Lena answered and for a few moments only rapid talking could be heard before Lena sighed and spoke again.

"Okay, I understand, don't worry, just give me twenty minutes and I'll be right there." – Lena said and put her phone back in her purse.

"You have to go." – Diana stated. She knew very well what it was like to be called upon and even though she was enjoying her day with Lena, she would never tell her to disregard her work.

"I do…" – Lena sounded sad with the idea, she was having such a good time.

"But… perhaps you'd like to come with me? I'll only be a couple of minutes, they only need my signature and then we can go back to showing you National City." – Lena asked somewhat shy.

"Yeah, I'd love to." – Diana quickly answered smiling.

"Alright, let's head there then." – Lena said and they quickly made their way to her car.

Most days, her driver – Roger would drive her to and from work, but today was her free day and she refused to have anything work-related around her, except her phone of course and the fact that she had to go back to CatCo to sign some papers, but that didn't count.

"So, do you think that this James character will cause you any more troubles?" – Diana asked after Lena had finished telling her about the reason why they had to go to CatCo today.

"If he's one third as smart as he claims to be, he'd know that it's in his best interest not to. He has completely messed up a lot of things lately, the most recent one was related to our paper delivery, we almost didn't make the deadline." – Lena spoke and Diana nodded, calculating in her mind the drawbacks that could've caused to the magazine.

"The funny thing is that he still thinks he can do a better job at running this company than me. You know he also tried to ask me out on a date, on multiple occasions and when I made it clear that I wasn't interested he tried presenting me as his "co-pilot" in this company in front of another journalist that works here. Good thing that Kara already knew what the truth was or I fear we'd have definitely made the yellow columns that time." – Lena explained further.

"He doesn't sound like a good employee, much less like a decent man." – Diana said seriously.

"You don't know half of the stuff he said to the assistant photograph on the last photoshoot. That's why everyone refuses to work with him now and why I have to sign an official document, reassuring them that Mr. Olsen is no longer in charge of any CatCo photo sessions." – Lena said.

The pair had already made their way to the elevator and Lena pushed the last floor button, watching the doors close in front of their eyes and feeling the easy lift of the elevator.

"Why do you keep him employed then? I don't understand how an intelligent, hard-working woman as you can tolerate this type of behavior in the workplace." – Diana asked incredulously.

"I made a promise to Cat, the previous owner of the company. Apparently, he used to be very good at his job while she was in charge of the magazine and I've never been a big fan of firing people unless it was extremely necessary. And… I also kind of promised someone else too." – Lena said in the end and just on cue, the elevator stopped on the floor with a faint _ding._

A young blonde with curly hair and a perky smile greeted them as soon as they took a couple of steps out of the elevator.

"Miss Luthor, I am so sorry to disturb you today, but Chen said he wouldn't even review the plans of the photoshoot before he had that reassurance you talked about signed and sent to him." – Eve spoke rapidly.

"Don't worry Eve, I should've done it yesterday, but it slipped my mind." – Lena dismissed the blonde's worries and entered the office, taking a pen from the top drawer, she quickly skimmed through the document Eve had handed her a few seconds prior, nodded quietly and signed it.

The paper was still hot from the print and Lena assumed Eve would run immediately to send it, but when she didn't move, Lena figured she had missed something else.

"What am I missing Eve?" – She asked.

"Well, it's not exactly what you've missed… more like what James forgot to do." – Eve said and Lena was looking at her expectantly, her patience with that guy was running thin already.

"He hasn't signed the formal apology yet." – Eve blurred out as if expecting Lena to get angry with her as well.

"Did you remind him before he left yesterday?" – Lena asked with an icy voice.

"Twice, Miss Luthor." – Eve said sincerely.

"Okay, okay… I assume he came in this morning to finish that report on the mayor's electoral campaign?" – Lena asked.

"Yes, I just saw him this morning." – The blonde assured her.

"Tell him I need to see him right away, once these papers are signed, I want you to send them to Chen, confirm that he has received them correctly and then you're free. You should enjoy what's rest of the weekend as well." – Lena said.

"I'm on it." – Eve said and made her way through the door.

Exactly five minutes later, James walked through the open doors of Lena's office and found both women standing on the balcony, his boss was giggling and waving her hands in the air, explaining something and the same unknown woman from before was laughing at her. Interesting, he knew that Kara was dating Lena, but perhaps this could turn the cards in his favor. If his friend found out that Lena was cheating on her, maybe Kara would turn for solace to him and he could ask her out again, just like old times, it was obvious Lena would never go out with him, but Kara already did so James only smiled smugly and cleared his throat. He already had a plan forming in his head and one that would expose Lena for who she was in his mind, nothing but a spoilt brat, such a bitch too, she was downright a _nasty woman._

Lena and Diana quickly turned their attention to where James was standing in the office and Lena entered back inside, leaving Diana to enjoy the view of her balcony.

"Lena, you wanted to see me?" – James asked, sounding more surprised than he should've been.

"Mr. Olsen." – Lena said sharply, accentuating his title on purpose, wanting to distance herself as much as she could from him.

"It seems that you still haven't signed the written formal apology to Mr. Chen's secretary, so if you could sign it now so that Miss Tessmacher can send it as soon as possible, that would be lovely." – Her voice sounded as warm as the South Pole.

"I'm not apologizing to some assistant who messed up with my camera and caused me to lose almost a whole day worth of work because of it." – James said indignantly.

"We both know it wasn't her James, but if you insist I can gladly show you the footage where it's as clear as daylight that you bumped into her and not the other way around. The poor girl just had the bad luck to be carrying the vases with flowers for the décor with her." – Lena spoke.

"Now, you have a choice, sign the letter or sign your resignation, either way, sign one of the documents and get out of my office." – The CEO said firmly.

James wasn't happy about this, about any of this, but he just grunted and made a demonstration out of getting a pen out of his pocket and dramatically signing the document on the table, Diana barely held back her chuckle at seeing him. And then men claimed that women are dramatic…

"Done. Now, if you'll excuse me I have work to do." – He muttered under his nose and hurried out of the door just as Eve walked in to get the papers. Only, instead of heading back to his department, James moved next to Eve's desk outside Lena's office and began listening in on the women inside. He was convinced that eventually Lena would say or do something that could help him expose her as the big bad wolf, half of the National City's population still believed her to be.

"That would be first." – Lena said and Diana laughed at the sarcasm dripping from her voice when she felt her phone vibrating.

"Ah, excuse me for a moment." – Diana excused herself as she stepped towards the balcony again, immersed in the text that she had just received.

 _We may need a new plan. Call me on Monday. – Bruce W._

 _*meanwhile inside Lena's office*_

"Thank you for coming, Miss Luthor, and I am sorry again for interrupting your weekend. I'll send the documents right away." – Eve said and Lena gave her a pleading look to just call her just Lena already.

"Don't worry Eve, there's still plenty of time left to enjoy it. And, I was serious about you going home after faxing the papers, work will still be here on Monday." – Lena spoke.

"Yes, boss." – Eve said in a humorous chuckle, she was beginning to loosen up around Lena and the CEO was glad to have employees such as the young Miss Teschmacher.

"Eve, in case you need to get a hold of me again, make sure to call me on the sat phone. I always lose the mobile signal on my boat." – Lena explained.

"No problem Lena. Have fun!" – Eve said just as Diana walked back in.

"All done, let's head out. I still have one more thing to show you." – Lena said and both her and Diana made their way out of the office and the CatCo building.

James, having heard all that, smirked self-satisfied and a plan formed in her head. He hurried back to his office and the first thing he did was pick up the phone.

"Hey Jimmy, how are you, my man? I was just thinking of you the other day when..." - the man on the other side of the line said cheerfully.

"Tommy! Save it, I have something for you." - James went directly to the point. He saw no need to indulge in simple chitchat with a lowlife paparazzo, completely disregarding the reason why said paparazzo was number one contact in his speed dial list.

This was far from the first time James had used him to leak a rumor or two to the yellow pages, ever since Lena took on the company, James would call Thomas Mayer aka Tommy and tip him on where his boss was or spread some defamatory rumor about her. The rumors didn't need to be true, the stories were never factually supported with any evidence, but that particular type of press never cared about the truth anyway, only the scandal and sensation and Lena Luthor was always an intriguing one.

"I'll text you a location, make sure you get there _asap_. Make sure to take pictures of everything that happens." - James said.

"Wow, wow. Wait a second Jimbo, last time you did that I wasted a whole day and barely got a decent shot of the Luthor, how do I know that this time it's worth my time?" - Tommy asked in a thick southern accent.  
His voice was perhaps just as slimy as his appearance. Tommy was a scrawny man with a crooked smile and extremely white complexion, skin covered in freckles, his hair was almost touching his shoulders and it was as greasy as if he'd washed it with oil instead of water. His writing was mediocre at best and he had a big pile of restraining orders against him, but for some reason, people loved the drama, he created and many "magazines" continued to hire him.

"Don't play hard to get Tommy, you know I'm the only one who could give you any information on the Luthor bitch. You could bribe Jess with a million things and she still won't even tell you Lena's second name." - James answered, his voice brimming with superiority and smugness.

"Whatever, just text me the address." - Tommy said and neither bothered to even say goodbye.  
James tapped quickly on his phone and pressed sent, once the two ticks next to the message turned blue, James put his hands on the back of his head, put his legs up the desk and smiled self-satisfied.

 _Santa Lucia Bay, second pier - Sirius_... - the message read.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Hi guys! So here we are, things are finally getting truly interesting, here is where the warning about prejudice and stereotypes comes in hand. This is the chapter where Diana and Lena get really close, so if you don't want to se that, skip this one and the next at least. I'm sorry for any typo's and I hope you enjoy it. Every comment and kudos is greatly appreciated.

AN1: I've based Lena's penthouse on one of my previous fic "A name is just a name". For the yacht you can imagine this: .es/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1536&bih=722&ei=Q0OdXKTYNI_QaMnOvjg&q=Monohull+Wally+130+&oq=Monohull+Wally+130+&gs_l=img.3..35i39.821.821..1362...0.0...1...2j1..gws-wiz-img...0.F4Wfl3DjabU#imgrc=_MxeEc-C4qqO9M:

And for the melody they play on the piano is this one: watch?v=EFJ7kDva7JE

Oh, and yes, I completely invented an element called "dyxoclothine" it just sounded cool.

 **Chapter VIII: Devil to pay, Devil and the deep blue sea – Part II**

Lena had taken the yacht far from the shore, just far enough so that the light contamination of the city stayed behind them. She was confident in her sailing skills, she had been doing that since she stepped foot at her boarding school, so it wasn't a problem for her to take her _Monohull Wally 130_ out at night.

"It's so beautiful out here!" – Diana said, smitten with the beauty of the moment. She was seated on the top porch just between the bow and the boom, looking around her, enjoying the darkness and the gentle light coming from the clouded full moon.  
The silver light reflected softly on the dark mahogany floorboards of the mast, it was a beautiful night.

"The weather is with us tonight." – Lena answered back, locking their position and touching a few settings screens to make sure the yacht stayed in one place. _Sirius_ stood proudly on top of the water, maintaining a leeward direction until they got to the place where the radars told them they wouldn't disturb the other boats around the coast or get disturbed by them.

The shorter woman walked up to where Diana was seated comfortably on a blanket she had previously placed there and opened a side compartment from where she took out two short crystal glasses and an unopened _Macallan 1926_ bottle.

"I had no idea you knew how to sail. Apart from brilliant, you seem to be full of surprises." – Diana said when Lena poured them both a drink laughing.

"You're flattering me. I grew up with money, there are things we, the kids from rich families, learn how to do in our sleep. Sailing is one of them." – Lena answered truthfully. She wasn't exactly been rich since birth, but she entered that crazy world while she was still very young and sometimes people from the outside of it often took her words as a sign of arrogance when in reality, she was simply stating facts.

"So let me guess, you all know how to ride horses and drink tea the proper way as well?" – Diana teased her.

"And fence, and play chess, and if you're smart enough, know how to talk about world politics, finance, history, and art. Although, if we're being honest, there's not many tea drinking involved, we are trained how to handle our scotch and bourbon." – Lena laughed and sipped the scotch.

The truth was that this was only one face of the world she was raised in, the public face of it. There was a darker side as well, a side where affairs, drugs, and secrets intertwined in one way or another virtually every member of their community. There was a reason why all the rich kids knew each other, there's just no way you grow up with that much money and power and not take advantage of your position, no matter how many charity organizations your parents have. You still grow up with their incredibly high expectations, you still have to handle the shouting matches between your mother and father every time come home, you still find an outlet for your emotions in the noisy parties filled with booze and drugs and yes, you still get up the next day and go impeccable to that tennis tournament your parents had signed you up for. Winning trophies, crashing a car or two, stealing a lipstick just for the thrill of it, kissing a boy or a girl that will surely piss off your parents… and still smiling for the outside world, always smiling.

"I suspected you were pretty amazing, but dear God I was vastly unprepared for that." – Diana admitted and Lena let out a small laugh while refilling their glasses. It had taken her some decades, but Diana finally managed to replace her "Goddess" with "God", humans looked at her weirdly every time her mind slipped.

"The way I grew up is not the most interesting thing about me." – Lena said softly.

"I agree, but it does make me understand you better." – Understand her? Kara had told her the same thing once.

"Diana... I..." - Lena tried speaking but faltered, trying to phrase the words in her mind.

"You look sad, I'm sorry if I've made you feel uncomfortable..." - Diana began talking, but Lena quickly stopped her midsentence.

"No, no. You have done nothing but cheer me up all day and I really appreciate it, but there's something you should know and it wouldn't be fair to either of us if I keep avoiding telling you." - Lena spoke confidently and Diana only nodded her understanding, waiting to hear what was tormenting the goddess in front of her.

"I was seeing someone. Well... am, no _was_ , seeing someone... we're just..." - Lena began talking and the nerves finally caught up to her as well

"I was in a complicated relationship until literally yesterday, but we faced some issues and talked and decided to give us some space and time. What I'm trying to say is that I find you extremely attractive and the way you look at me and speak to me makes me melt, but you should know that I'm just a huge mess, emotionally speaking right now and I don't want to lead you on or hurt you. I really enjoy spending time with you though." - Lena blurred out and for a couple of seconds, Diana just stood there speechless and just when Lena was about to excuse herself and get up quickly thinking of the quickest way to get away from Diana when the taller woman moved her soft hands and took Lena's in hers.

"So, would my assumption that you were seeing Kara Danvers aka Supergirl but are as of yesterday on uncertain relationship terms with her?" - Diana asked with a gentle voice and Lena had no idea how Diana knew about Kara.

"How did you... who are you?" - Lena asked and suddenly her voice turned icy. Diana seemed to know too much. She might not be in a relationship with Kara anymore, but the blonde's safety was still her priority.

"Don't worry Lena, I'm not an enemy, I assure you I would never bare any ill feelings towards Kara." - Diana continued, sensing the need to explain further.

"I have known Kara since she first came to Earth, all those years ago... I'm also familiar with Kal-El or well… Superman. When Kara first came to this planet, Kal brought her to me, he couldn't take care of her and while he was arranging for her permanent stay with the Danvers, young Kara Zor-El stayed with me and my sisters. We trained her and taught her our ways and she became like a family to us as well. It's been many years since I last saw her, but I tried keeping tabs on her during all this time... I just had no idea she was dating you." - Diana answered fully.

" _Who_ are you?" - Lena asked once more, but this time her voice was missing the previous sharpness, now she just sounded confused.

"I am Diana, daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. That makes me, basically, a princess, so when I came to the man's world I just changed my name to Diana Prince. It was almost a century ago and many things happened to me since my first days around here, but some humans still amaze me. I thought… I believed that nothing could surprise me anymore, but I was wrong because it baffles me beyond comprehension how sweet little Kara could be in a relationship with someone as extraordinary as you and not make her cheeks hurt from smiling." - Diana said honestly. A sudden shiver climbed up Lena's body.

"I understand that may be a lot of information to process and if you want I could take you home and I'll never bother you again, but I want you to know that I really enjoy your company as well. I will not make you do anything you are not comfortable with, you set the boundaries, Lena. I'd be a liar if I deny that I don't envy Kara for having you, I envy her million chances to see your eyes shining when you talk about science and even steal a kiss whenever you are together, but I'll never allow myself to break up two of the people I've grown to care about so much." - Dian spoke with conviction, Lena was supposed to be shocked by the confession, but somehow that crazy thing all made sense now. The meeting between Kara and Diana, the angry look the blonde had directed her, the unexplainable connection was finally explained and Lena did the last thing she expected... she burst out laughing! Laughing like a kid on a sugar rush, leaving a perplexed Diana wondering near her.

"Oh God…" – Lena managed to somehow say that between fits of laugh, because it was just her goddamned Luthor luck to end a relationship with the archenemy of her family, the first person she loved with all of her heart and find herself developing feelings for yet _another_ superhero, who's arguably even more perfect than Supergirl. She had to admit, life had a perverted sense of irony to it and fate seemed to have decided to play the role of a sarcastic bastard whenever she meddled in Lena's life.

When her laugh slowed down to energetic giggles, Diana was still looking quietly, not moving an inch, Lena grabbed the bottle of _The Macallan 1926_ and generously poured herself another drink, they had almost finished the bottle. The amber liquid burned pleasantly down her throat and a small tear escaped her left eye. Lena wasn't really sure what prompted that saline drop to spill down her cheek, but she decided she wouldn't care right now.

"Well, at least you didn't tell me after you slept with me." – Lena said and now Diana looked almost offended.

"Kara only told me she was Supergirl after we had been dating for two months and it was more because I basically said it for her. She had even told one of our employees in CatCo first, a sweet young woman named Nia. I couldn't really blame her though; I am a Luthor no matter what I do." – Lena explained and Diana's face softened in understanding.

The Amazon was certainly not prepared to hear how Kara had handled her relationship with Lena, she wasn't even sure it was her place to comment, so she just moved closer to Lena and hugged her, silently holding the CEO. It baffled her how Kara had obviously changed during the years, Diana was proud with the public success her pupil was achieving as a reporter, but she had no idea what happened in her private life, that is not the way the Amazons had shown her. It was clear that over the years, many things had happened to Kara and reshaped her after her stay on Themyschira and it was probably a good idea to have that meeting with the blonde sooner rather than later, but right now she had a slightly tipsy and upset CEO in her arms.

"I cannot speak for Kara, but you can't escape your family Lena. You are just as much a part of them as they are of you, but you don't have to feel shame for it. I admit, the Luthors are far from being my favorites, but if I'm not mistaken even the Zor-El's had their fair share of bad decisions made while Krypton still existed." – Diana spoke gently and if she wasn't so concentrated on looking into Lena's eyes, she'd have noticed the minuscule snowflakes that had suddenly started falling upon them.

"Your family shaped you to be resilient and resourceful. You thought yourself to be brilliant, good and brave. You have learned how to act selflessly and you continue to strive for the wellbeing of the people of this city." – The Amazon continued speaking, unable to hide the admiration in her voice.

Lena was snuggled comfortably in the crook of Diana's neck and her soft smell of honey and lemon washed the younger Luthor with waves of calm and tranquility. She wasn't drunk, far from it actually, but she could taste the sharp aroma of properly aged whiskey on her tongue and the taller woman's arms holding her securely.

"Thank you." – Lena murmured and without even thinking about it, she placed a small kiss on Diana's side of the neck. The impulse just came over her and her mind made no attempt to rationalize it, even Lena didn't fully realize what she had done until her lips pulled back.

Putting some distance between them, Diana was stuck staring at Lena's eyes, those wonderful pools of wolfish grey and green all mixed up together. The moon was high in the sky, but the clouds had tamed her light, making her shine on the surface of the Earth half as intense. The two women were so immersed in the moment that they could swear time itself had stopped. Diana's olive skin felt hot despite the winter weather and Lena was still comfortably wrapped in her red shall, staring at the amazon's warm dark iolite eyes.

Their lips were just millimeters away, a pleasant rush of excitement ran through both of them, a shiver made Lena's neck hairs stand up and Diana felt an electric spark shimmer down her spine, just a soft push forward and their bodies will finally connect…

"I… think we should go inside, the snow is starting to fall harder." – Diana said, making a decision for both of them that would save them some embarrassment and uncomfortableness later, but she wasn't backing away.

"I don't mind the snow." – Lena said and Diana saw the look in her eyes change, get filled with certainty, so before the Luthor could take the final step towards her, Diana lowered her hands on her hip bone and ever so gently pushed her backward just a couple of centimeters away.

Okay, that was confusing, didn't she just said she envied Kara for having the chance to kiss Lena so often? Didn't she want to kiss her? Was all that flirting just for the fun of it?

"Wait, not like that Lena… not right now." – Diana said and saw Lena's eyes fill with sadness and she tried to pull away even further, but Diana was not ready to let her go, not until she explained her decision.

"I don't want you to kiss me because you're upset and certainly not after we've had a few glasses of whiskey. I am not a woman who plays around and I need your clear mind to make a decision you won't regret later, it would be a shame to get both of us hurt by doing something just because of the heat of the moment." – Diana spoke and understanding downed on Lena.

"Fine, but I'm in no mood to get back to National City and drive home, so if you don't have any urgent business to take care of tonight, would you mind sleeping on the yacht?" – Lena said with a teasing smile and Diana felt no need to remind Lena that she was more than capable of getting the yacht back to shore and drive Lena home, she was in no hurry whatsoever to end the night either.

"Sounds good to me." – The Amazon smiled back and felt Lena tugging at her hand, guiding them inside.

Of course, Lena had a couch, two in fact, perfectly adequate, big enough to accommodate Diana, but the CEO just didn't want her to sleep on the couch. Yes, she could say she was cold, but the yacht had a perfectly functioning heating system. But then again, why would she need to invent a reason to get Diana to join her in her bed? She wasn't dating Kara anymore, she wasn't cheating, she could even kiss Diana and take things further without technically being guilty afterward, but Diana was right. Now was not the time for that, something inside her was yearning to be closer to the Amazon and that's what prompted the next word out of her mouth.

"So, would you sleep with me?" – Lena asked out of nowhere and Diana's eyes widened impossibly so.

"I promise just sleep. You were right to push me away earlier, but I want you close to me." – Lena said sincerely and it made her head spin for a second. She wasn't used to openly express what she was feeling, she had just started sharing things with Kara and then things got bad really fast.

"You set the boundaries from now on." – Diana said and joined Lena, walking in the narrow hallway towards the bedroom.

Sleeping in the big fluffy bed sure felt nice, especially when an incredibly charming woman had her arm wrapped around you, making you feel secure and relaxed. Lena had gotten used to sleeping with Kara, the bed felt empty without her, but now Diana had been hugging her all night and Lena woke up with a smile on her face. The soft morning glow entered through the cabin's round windows and even though the sun was hiding behind the clouds, its gentle warmth still caressed the exposed skin on Lena's arms where her pj's had scrunched up. God, she had no idea what she was doing, but in the light of the day it didn't feel as wrong as she expected to, she was glad she called off things with Kara earlier.

"Good morning." – Diana's voice surprised Lena as she was daydreaming, lying idly half-on top of her. The Amazon almost kissed the top of Lena's head but remembered that she promised Lena to follow her lead, so she settled for simply tightening her hug around Lena's midsection.

"Morning." – Lena mumbled with a smile on her face.

"Did you manage to get some sleep?" – Diana asked and Lena found herself shivering as the princess' raspy voice traveled through her.

"I should be asking you that, seeing as I'm squishing you." – Lena laughed.

"Nah, I'm happy to serve as a pillow, it's especially rewarding when I get to see the most beautiful woman as soon as I open my eyes." – Diana said and caressed Lena's shoulder.

It was a good thing she couldn't see Lena's flushed cheeks or she would've no doubt made another charming comment and fluster Lena to no end.

"So, what is your plan for today?" – Diana asked.

"Well, to be honest, I am quite comfortable right here, but I forgot to tell my staff to make sure we have food so, we could go grab breakfast and then go wherever you want. I have the day off." – Lena answered lazily playing with Diana's shirt.

"You don't have to play tour guide on your day off. So, come on, what do you want to do?" – Diana asked once more, genuinely curious to know the answer.

"Hmm, I think I'd like to just slouch on the couch and watch a movie or two. But I also want you to have a good time here in National City so I can just get an extra cup of coffee and we can do something outside." – Lena said, thinking of what could be interesting to Diana, she was having a good time as well, accompanying the Amazon.

"I think I had enough sightseeing, for now, I could use a quiet day in." – Diana spoke softly not wanting to intrude on Lena's time since she didn't really ask her to come along to her apartment.

"Okay, then, we can grab a coffee on our way back to my apartment and I will even let you chose the first movie." – Lena said with a smirk.

"That's very generous of you Miss Luthor, you know how to treat a girl." – Diana laughed.

"You are literally a princess!" – Lena laughed as well.

"An _Amazon_ princess." – Diana said and began tickling Lena.

It was another thirty minutes until Lena and Diana managed to compose themselves and get ready for the day. Lena went back to the controls and began navigating back to the port. National City was covered in snow when they got back, it had been snowing all night and now everything around them was covered under a thick white blanket of snowflakes.

Waiting behind one of the yachts on the pier, a shivering Thomas Mayer, barely capable of keeping his camera stable for a moment was just about ready to give up and go home when he saw _Sirius_ approaching. He quickly pointed his camera at the vessel in the distance and began adjusting the zoom, the quality of the picture wasn't optimal, but it was enough to distinguish the people on it.

Diana had draped her red shawls around Lena once more, but this time she was standing directly behind the CEO and had hugged her from behind, the difference in their height just enough to make Diana comfortably whisper in Lena's ear.

Tom's lips curved up in a satisfied smile, the top of his head was almost frozen as his greasy locks captured the falling snow, but the couple of pictures he had managed to take before one of the security guards on the pier saw him and began chasing him were more than worth it.

 _**At the DEO**_

"Alright, so Damien Dhark is from the past, Zari Tomas is from the future, Ava Sharpe is a clone and you broke time. Am I missing something?" – Alex summarized as Sara and Ava sat beside her, it was her idea to come clean about the situation since they needed to combine their efforts and stop the plan Damien had devised with the dominators on his side.

"But how did he manage to jump universes?" – Alex asked still processing all the details.

Suddenly, a portal opened in the room and a man in a brown trench coat and a ruffled hair who surprisingly looked like Sting stepped out before the portal closed behind him and Alex jumped up, pulling her gun out and aiming it at his head.

"I can answer that love, he used magic, very powerful magic." – Constantine said and put his hands up in surrender.

"John? What are you doing here?" – Sara got up as well and asked quickly.

"You know him?" – Ava and Alex asked at the same time.

"Yeah, we worked together on a case with a young girl in the sixties." – Sara commented offhandedly, not paying attention to the look of confusion of the other two women in the room.

"Long story short, if Damien has recruited aliens to help his cause then you're definitely going to need my help. And I should probably keep an eye on Sara, Damien has been known to rile you up, love." – Constantine said and winked as Sara, making Ava glare murderously at him.

"Now, we don't have much time, we have to come up with a way to track his movements and see how many more creatures has he recruited." – He spoke once more.

A quick knock on the door of the room interrupted their conversation and Alex was getting frustrated, she took a deep breath and steadied her head between her hands. Kara didn't knock again, she just opened the door and took a step in with Sam following behind her.

"Sorry to interrupt you guys, but Alex, Sam came with the equipment from L- Corp and she is asking where to set it up."

"Kara, come in. Sam, you're welcome to join us as well." – Alex waived them over, she could only deal with one crisis at a time.

"As I was saying, we have to track their signature and see how many more have joined the fight." – Constantine said.

"A fight? Oh, but we just got rid of the Daxamites." – Kara's shoulders slumped.

"That was almost a year ago sis, there's no rest for the wicked." – Alex said trying to keep her sister from pouting.

"Sam, can you help me to scan for some traces of dyxoclothine in the atmosphere? Because the Dominators aren't used to Earth's atmosphere and can't adjust properly to the gasses in the air they sweat dyxoclothine, and that will make it easier for us to trace them." – Alex explained.

"Of course, I'd love to help." – Sam said with an excited smile.

"Alright lassies, as much as I'd like to stand around and see you all give each other heart eyes, which by the way is adorable, we do need to get a move on." – Constantine's voice reminded them of his presence.

"Shut up John. I'll gather my team and coordinate a plan of attack once you have the information." – Sara said to Alex.

"I see you're still as bossy as before Sara and here I was thinking it was only when we were alone." – John smirked and Alex rolled her eyes.

"With him too? Seriously?" – The oldest Danvers sister asked laughing.

"Do I even want to know?" – Ava grunted as she looked between Alex, John, and Sara.

"Oh, this got awkward… Okay, kids, let's not dwell on our pasts now, we can create the club "I've slept with our captain too" once we've defeated Damien and his army." – John clapped his hands and Kara believed she had actually blushed from witnessing this conversation, while Sam just looked curiously at Alex.

"Let's get to work people." – Alex said and all of them moved out of the room and she quickened her step to catch up with Sam.

"Thank you for helping me with this, I know juggling L – Corp and the DEO stuff can be a bit overwhelming." – The Danvers sister said sincerely.

"No problem, it's actually refreshing to get out of the office, I don't know how Lena does it all the time." – Sam spoke.

"She loves what she does, how is she by the way? Kara has been sulking for some time now, but she hasn't told me anything." – Alex asked.

"Lena's… okay… I'm sorry but can't say anything more than that, it's not my place either." – Sam said and Alex felt stupid for

"You're right, I'm sorry. Hey, I was thinking… would you like to go for a bite after we finish here? We can't work until all the equipment gets here and it is a Sunday after all." – Alex tried asking smoothing, but it turned out to be anything but.

"I uh… I promised Ruby I'd take her to the skate park, she's been wanting to go for a while now, but I barely have the time to help her with her homework." – Sam said apologetically.

"Right, no problem, of course, maybe some other time." – Alex's hands were beginning to fidget with the tablet in her hands as she tried to smile as usual and walk away.

"But you're welcome to join us… if you want. There's this pretty amazing pizza place near the park too so we could go there after?" – Sam asked quickly and her cheeks colored lightly.

"Yeah, I'd love to." – Alex said in a hurry without even thinking about it.

Okay, let's make sure the techs know where to put the machines when they get here and we can clock out for the day.

As soon as they walked to the command center that was just before the labs, they could see a crowd gathered around the wall of monitors and quickly ran to see what was happening, the monitor's feed was usually always set on the news channel broadcast 24/7 and what they saw made them freeze in one place.

An incredible silence engulfed the people standing next to each other in the command center, right there in front of their eyes, the news were showing "exclusive" pictures of the adventures of their local billionaire – genius CEO Lena Luthor on her boat with a tall, brunette woman hugging her from behind. The yellow text box under the pictures classified it as an exclusive and big black letters read: Love is not _in the air,_ it's at sea.

The media always liked to exaggerate, at first they had published some pictures of Lena and a hoovering Supergirl right in front of the L- Corp's balcony, but when the pair publically supported each other's initiatives, the press got bored and left them alone, for a while at least. Now, the pictures were all over the news and the journalists were speaking about how Lena Luthor might not be leading the list of eligible bachelorettes anymore.

"Why is everybody gaping like a fish out of the water? So what if the chick has a girlfriend?" – Rory asked not understanding the situation until Zari elbowed him sharply to shut up and Amaya leaned closer to him to whisper.

"That's the woman Kara's dating." – Amaya tried to keep her voice as low as she could but to Kara's hearing, she might as well have shouted it.

"Shit…" – Alex mumbled under her nose and turned very slowly to see her sister, she was almost afraid of what she'll see, tears and anger would've been her first choices, but Kara only looked sad and hurt. The silence was beginning to make their ears pop and the room felt suffocating to the Kryptonian, the voice of a reporter broke the silence.

 _So, here you have it, folks, a reliable source confirmed that the two women had spent the entire day of yesterday together and Lena Luthor took her boat to sea in the late afternoon only to return earlier today. We sure hope Miss Luthor won't catch a cold from the first snow, but then again we can see that she's in good hands. More details on the mysterious woman in the picture will follow later today, stay tuned for more!_

"Kara…" – Alex tried to talk to her sister but now Kara seemed angry, now Alex got the reaction she was afraid of earlier.

"I'm fine Alex, I have to go." – Kara said as she turned around on her heels and quickly flew away.

"Damn it, Kara, just don't do anything stupid." – Alex said through gritted teeth and she was sure her sister heard her.

The older Danvers had no idea what was going on and apparently neither did Sam when Lena had told her that she had some problems with Kara she didn't expect them to be _that_ big and right at this moment a red light started flashing in the DEO and an alarm blasted through the speakers.

"Alex, there has been an attack at one of L – Corp's warehouses, the monitors show three hostiles, two dominators and a human helping them!" – Winn shouted as he put the feed on the screens in front of them.

"Damn it!" – Alex got frustrated.

"Sara get your team there, a team of DEO agents has already been dispatched as well. Winn try to reach J'onn, he's going to kick my ass for this but he needs to know what's going on." – Alex instructed everyone and turned to Sam.

"Stay here and try calling Kara again, she isn't answering her coms, if you get through tell her where we are. Hopefully, she's already waiting for us there." – Alex said and sprinted towards the rooftop of the building, she had to get to the outskirts of the city and nothing on wheels would be fast enough.

 _**Meanwhile in Lena's penthouse**_

"Your home is beautiful." – Diana said as she was walking around the spacious living room painted in grey, teal and blue tones, decorated with multiple paintings and framed photographs. The large ceiling to floor windows of the place let the direct light of the day illuminate the inside of the apartment.

"I'd kill for a coffee, do you want one?" – Lena offered as she took headed to the kitchen.

"I'd like a tea if you have any." – Diana said still admiring the art on the walls.

"Earl Grey sound good? I also have milk and honey." – Lena asked as she opened the upper cabinet.

"Perfect! Thank you." – The amazon said while continuing to move around. Lena knew that the Earl Gray was usually served on its own, but the mix between these particular flavors was a pleasure she often indulged in.

An ebony black medium-sized baby grand (M-170) STEINWAY & SONS piano stood proudly near the windows and under the stairs that led to the second floor. Diana first began playing the piano after the was ended, she had found herself in a new land, living a new life without the man she had loved and needed to keep her mind busy. Learning music was what kept her mind most occupied, apart from studying art history, the piano lessons had become her way of spending time with herself and not feeling homesick.

She used to play for hours, but when her work started getting more and more demanding she stopped and to this day it had been around ten years more or less since she last touched the white and black keys. She took one more step and sat down in front of the piano, her fingers itched to touch it and even though she should've asked Lena first her hands betrayed her will and she began stroking gently the keys.

The melody carried itself through the air, resonating from the windows and filling the entire penthouse, it was soft, gentle, imaginative, slightly sad at times and a certain compass kept repeating itself throughout the score. Lena had taken Diana's tea in her hands, ready to give it to her when she detected a familiar melody, it had been so many years since she last played it herself, but she could never forget her favorite piece.

Taking, slow, careful steps, Lena made her way to Diana, she didn't want to scare the amazon who was obviously so deep into her world at the moment that her eyes wouldn't even dare to blink. Her hands caressed the keys like a lover, delicate some times and more demanding others, her fingers stroking each tone with reverence and trained precision.

It wasn't until the final notes of the melody sounded that Lena dared to take a breath and speak once again.

" _Senneville_ and wonderfully played at that." – Lena said quietly, the hairs on the back of her neck were still standing tall as an unexpected wave of goosebumps passed through her body as she heard the familiar tune in the kitchen.

"You know him?" – Diana asked surprised.

"That's my favorite piece." – Lena spoke still a little dazed by the beauty of what she had just witnessed.

"I am sorry I played it without asking you first though, I just saw the piano and forgot my manners for a second." – Diana said suddenly becoming self-conscious.

"Please don't apologize, of course, you can play it as much as you want, I haven't touched it in a while to be honest, but I've always loved how it sounds." – Lena said as she moved to offer the cup in her hands to Diana.

"Thank you." – The amazon answered and took a sip from the hot liquid. Lena's coffee was long since forgotten and Diana suddenly asked:

"Would you like to try it together? I know you know the piece by heart, the tapping on the cup gave you out." – She asked as she moved to the side of the small leather chair, leaving enough space for Lena to join her and putting her glass down on the floor, near the back foot of the chair.

"I thought you were too concentrated on the keys to see that." – The Luthor smiled shyly.

"Not even the piano can distract me from noticing you." – Diana offered with a smile.

"Okay, let's try it." – Lena agreed and sat next to Diana, their thighs and hands touching playfully.

"Okay, do you want to start first?" – Diana asked.

"No, no, it's okay. It's been a while so you are more than welcome to take the lead." – Lena offered.

"Okay then." – Diana smiled and began playing the first notes and soon Lena followed.

The melody they crated was true to the original, but playing it together made them feel like they had entered another dimension of the reality, the music hugged them tightly and their fingers traced the memorized patterns on their own, their minds traveled with the music.

Lena always wanted to learn how to play the violin, but when she got passed down Lex's old piano, she wanted to be as good as a pianist as her big brother and she loved the times he would show her how to play and they'd sit together and play for hours.

"That was amazing!" – Lena said as they finished the melody and smiled broadly, Diana was mesmerized by her beauty, but Lena's hungry stomach decided to manifest itself right in that moment, gurgling in protest of being ignored without food for too long.

"Let's get something to eat and decide what movie to watch." – Diana said as she took her glass from the floor and got up. It was still early to eat lunch and too late for breakfast, so brunch it was.

"What would you say if we made some pancakes and later we can order something to eat here?" – Lena asked, she loved pancakes.

"Great, how can I help?"

"Well, you'll probably get your clothes dirty." – Lena said looking at Diana, she was still wearing the clothes from yesterday.

"That's okay, I won't just sit on the couch while you cook." – Diana sad and began brunching up the sleeves of her shirt.

"In this case, would you like to change? I have some spare clothes that will most probably be a little short for you, but at least you'll be more comfortable." – Lena offered.

"Alight. I don't think I'll freeze to death here." – Diana laughed.

"I'm sure I could think of something to save you from such fate." – Lena said dramatically and they both laughed.

"Okay, come up and we can change and get back." – The Luthor offered and disappeared up the stairs.

True to her word, Lena gave Diana some of her clothes and when she put them on, the pants ended good four fingers above her ankle and the t-shirt's sleeves were a bit too short, but Diana felt much more comfortable than with the pants from earlier.

"Now, I'll just have to get the flour and we can begin." – Lena said as they laid all the necessary products on the top of the kitchen plot.

The thing about Lena was that she was used to wearing high heels, she was always wearing high heels and now that she was barefoot, she had a small problem, she could barely reach the flour, but she didn't want to ask Diana for help. That was one of those stupid little things your pride always made you work for, so there she was now, reaching for the flour on the top shelf and she could feel it right in front of her fingertips. Lena stepped on the point of her fingertips, if the Russian ballerinas could see her right now they'd get green with jealousy, stretching her hand up and… she got it!

Lena was so excited to finally get it that she didn't hear the tear of the paper bag as she pulled it to her, out of nowhere a quarter of the flour fell right on top of Lena's head and she stepped back with a loud yelp.

Diana was stunned to see the CEO suddenly covered in the white powder and even though she tried to contain her laughter, the amazon ended up doubling over from the laughing. Lucky for her, Lena had a good sense of humor and was laughing as well.

"You look like a kid on Halloween!" – Diana managed to say and continued laughing.

"Let's see if we can make you look this good as well then!" – Lena said and threw a hand of flour right to Diana's face.

"Oh now, you're in big trouble Luthor!" – Diana said and started chasing after Lena.

It wasn't even a chase per se, she caught Lena with in two strides and began tickling her, Lena was extremely ticklish and she quickly found herself falling on the floor with Diana on top of her.

Kara had just gotten out of the DEO and headed to Lena's penthouse, she needed to see her and clarify what was going on, when she saw the photos on the news she barely contained her ire and yes, Lena had told her that they were on a break, but she wouldn't just go and cheat on her right? The news always exaggerated things and so Kara was midflight when she concentrated on Lena's erratic heartbeat and her yell. Add to that hearing " _now, you're in big trouble Luthor!"_ and Lena's obvious shortage of breath made Kara think someone was attacking her again so she flew even faster.

"Get away from her!" – Supergirl's voice sounded right beside the two women on the ground and they froze in their place but Kara's first thought had been that Lena was hurting so she lifted the woman on top of the CEO without thinking about it and threw her back against a wall. Lena had given up fighting and Diana was victoriously straddling her, Lena was so close to her that she could smell her fruity shampoo and she slowly moved even closer, still smiling and breathing heavily when out of nowhere Diana was thrown off her and Kara's voice surprised her.

"Kara!" – Lena yelled behind her as she quickly got to her feet again.

"Diana?" – Kara realized with horror who it was when she looked at the assailant's face and ignored the flour covering her from head to toe. Nevertheless, Diana would never just attack someone, let alone a woman in her own home, so if she and Lena weren't fighting then… oh shit. The realization hit Kara like a train and suddenly the situation made sense.

 _TBC_


End file.
